


Elite team of helpless children

by Idontunderstandwhy



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst and Humor, Caring Zuko, Dadko, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Katara/Zuko (Avatar), F/M, Lots of teenage hormones, Momtara, Slow Burn, Zuko being a angsty teenager, Zutara, a little inappropriate staring, also caring brother, and I mean it, but if you stick it out you get to see power couple zutara, like they don't become an official couple for like 40chaps, sick Katara, sokka being goofy, zuko and katara parenting the gaang
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 61,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26233168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idontunderstandwhy/pseuds/Idontunderstandwhy
Summary: Zuko the newest member of the gaang realises that he has basically entered a joint custody with Katara. Also Zuko and Katara have a complicated relationship that everyone besides Toph is confused about.__  __  __They have been bickering about lunch for a while now and things were starting to get heated."But if we make all the rice now we will have nothing for dinner." Katara argued."Then make some bread.""Ugh.... We don't have enough flour to make bread for everyone!" Katara turned to glare at Zuko."Why are you getting angry at me? It's not like I am snorting all the flour!"Everyone stopped their respective works to stare at them. Hakoda leaned towards his son to ask"What is the....nature of your sister's....relationship with the fire prince?"Sokka looked at his father wordlessly, he was having a hard time putting their 'relationship' in words."I dunno....they are....complicated and sometimes super weird.""Should we stop them?" Suki asked, looking at Katara who was now pointing an accusing finger at Zuko."It's better not to get between them if you don't want to be impaled by ice and fire daggers." Sokka cordially informed.
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Comments: 158
Kudos: 503





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I just thought that Zuko got very little time with the gaang so I decided to add some scenes in the middle of the episode to flesh out his dynamic with all the gaang members.
> 
> First few chapters are set after the sun warriors and before boiling rock.

Zuko sat by the river washing his sweat drenched shirt and thinking about his first morning as a firebending master.  
'The Avatar sucks at firebending' was the first thought that entered his mind. 'I mean I thought I was bad but this is worse than when I first started. He has no stance, no technique and his first move is always dodging and running.' Zuko let out an exasperated sigh into his palms. He tried to channel his uncle Iroh's teachings. Calm and patience. Aang was only starting, he might even be a fast learner. And if he wasn't then Ozai was going to roast his ass and they were going to lose the hundred year war and the world was going to become a burning hell and they will all probably be dead so no biggie. Zuko sighed again, he wasn't good at calm and patience. He stripped down and went into the water to clean himself. The cool water felt good against his warm tired body. He slowly massaged his cramp up abdomen and bicep muscles. As he looked around the western air temple he couldn't help but think about how much his world had changed. Zuko could hear the blind earthbender chucking rocks at Aang while he ran around the place screaming / giggling as he tried to avoid them. Then there was the waterbender's brother making awful jokes from the background. 'Why isn't Toph throwing a few rocks at him?' Zuko wonder. He still couldn't believe he was unable to catch these idiots. 

Once Zuko was done cleaning himself he got out of the river and walked back towards the camp. When he reached there he saw Katara cooking lunch for everybody. Well, it was more like she was struggling to cook. There weren't enough utilities for everyone so she had to cook in batches and she seemed to be having a hard time controlling the fire. Zuko felt guilty to see Katara like this. She was fatigued, her eyes had bags underneath them and her appearance made him think that she was sick.  
"What do you want?" Katara snapped, making Zuko realise that he was staring.   
"Nothing." he said stiffly. Then he scratched the back of his neck contemplatingly before asking "Do you need some help?"  
Katara turned towards him, the offer, honestly, had surprised her.  
"I have been doing this... Alone for long enough. I don't need anyone help." she said angrily though her eyes lingered on Zuko for a little too long. His hair was still damp with water dripping down his nose. He had his shirt on his shoulders showing off his toned body.  
"That's not what I...." Zuko started protesting but soon stopped "You know what it doesn't matter. If you want to alone carry everyone's weight on your shoulder then go ahead." he said before walking inside. He knew that he had wronged Katara the most and that it'd take much more than a few sorrys, promises of being better and the cup of tea to convince her that he wasn't the same person anymore. And after the death threat she gave him he tried not to ruffle her feathers too much 

Zuko ate both lunch and dinner in the corner, away from the rest of the group. He still felt like an unwanted outsider and no one besides Aang had made any effort to make him feel otherwise. Night time was the worst for Zuko, left alone with only his thoughts and silence. Ever night he stays awake thinking of all the mistakes he had made and all his many regrets came rushing back to him. Tonight as he sat underneath the starlit sky memories of his uncle flooded his brain. Waves of guilt wash over him as he thought back to his betrayal. It was almost midnight and Zuko was wallowing in self-pity when he heard someone's footsteps. He carefully turned around to see Toph's small stature standing few feets behind him.  
"What are you doing here?" Zuko asked mildly concerned.  
"I am going to pee. What are you doing here...in the middle of the night?" Toph walked towards him. She seemed a little suspicious but nothing too alarming.  
"Just thinking about my past and all the horrible things I have done."  
Toph wasn't sure if Zuko was trying to make a joke or not. Although she realised that he was too awkward to make jokes. She sat down next to him and said   
"You can't just sit here every night and mewl over those things....it will only make things worse trust me. Just....focus on teaching the Avatar firebending and once we win the war, people won't remember all those horrible things you did earlier." Toph realised then that she wasn't very good at comforting people.  
"Seems like one person will always remember" Zuko spoke while looking at Katara.  
"Oh... Don't worry about Sugarqueen. She hates all the newcomers. She'll warm up to you soon enough"  
"I highly doubt that" Zuko continued looking at Katara. He had become so used to all the angry glares or nasty looks that seeing her this peaceful was odd to him. She looked so cute, softly huffing in her sleep. It made his heart swell up.  
"What's wrong?" Toph asked suddenly, out of nowhere.  
"Huh...?" Zuko stared up at her, absent-mindedly.  
"Your heartbeat is quickening, is something wrong?"  
Zuko quickly shook his head and darted his eyes away from Katara  
"No, no everything is fine. Didn't you have to pee?" he reminder trying to drive Toph away.  
"Right, I almost forgot." Toph got up with a sly smile that indicated that she knew more than she was supposed to.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara falls sick and Zuko becomes a single parent.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set before boiling rock.

Beads of sweat accumulated on Aang's forehead as he stood on one feet with one hand behind his back and another stretch out. He desperately tried to keep the tiniest flame burning on his stretch out palm. But in spite of his best efforts he failed. The flame flickered to a stop and Aang simultaneously fell down losing his balance.  
"Again!" Zuko's command came for the edge of the cliff where he was sitting and meditating. He was afraid that if he didn't meditate to calm himself he might ended up burning the Avatar alive out of frustration. They have been at it from sunrise and Aang still couldn't control a flame, this was at least the 27th time it had extinguished.  
"Why can't we go back to target practicing? That was so much more fun." Aang whined as he took that same uncomfortable pose again.  
"We tried target practice, remember! But you kept burning everything BESIDES THE TARGET!" Zuko stood up in frustration and left his meditating spot "You need to learn how to control a tiny flame before you start shooting fire out of your hands"  
"Why are you jerkbenders so loud?" Sokka groaned from under his blankets. Zuko gave him a fiery glare. He has been struggling to teach Aang for at least five hours now and this moron was still sleeping and COMPLAINING.  
"If you don't shut up right now, Sokka, I will jerkbend you out of existence" Zuko threaten causing Sokka to show him a thumbs-up before going back to sleep. 

After another hour of firebending practice which could also be called as attempting to control a flame and failing repeatedly, Toph finally took mercy on Aang and said  
"Okay, that's enough fireworks for today. Let's go do some earthbending."  
Aang stared hopefully at Zuko who hesitantly nodded. Aang didn't need to be told twice, he run off to change out of his sweat soaked clothes.  
"Yeah...yeah go play with mud for a few hours. I'm sure that'll help you defeat my father." Zuko whispered under his breath as he watched his student escaping in relief.  
"I hope that wasn't you criticising my teaching techniques" Toph cautioned Zuko for his comment. Zuko wasn't taking any chances with the greatest earthbender. He didn't want to be buried alive so young.  
"No, no. That was a comment at my own incompetency as a teacher. I wish uncle was here, he would have been a much better teacher to the Avatar." he said, sighing into his hands.  
"Don't be so hard on yourself. I wasn't very good at teaching Aang at first either but then Katara gave me some good advice and look where we are now." Toph patted Zuko's back supportively once then suggested with a smirk "You know what, you should ask Katara for some advice....then you'll have a excuse to talk to her too."  
"Why would I need an excus...." before Zuko could finish the sentence Toph and Aang were already headed towards the forest.  
He sat there thinking about what else he could do to improve his teaching skills. But when he failed to find any answers by himself, he begrudgingly went to the kitchen area to ask Katara for some help. Much to his surprise she wasn't there nor was she anywhere else. Zuko hadn't joined the group for long but even in his short time here he had notice that Katara was the only other person who woke up as early as him. She had an entire morning routine filled with chores to complete after all. But today she was nowhere to be found. Zuko went and poked Sokka awake for his death sleep.  
"Where is your sister? She is usually up by now?"  
"How am I supposed to know?" Sokka grumbled sleepily.  
"If she isn't up then no one makes breakfast, you know what that means?" Zuko's question instantly woke Sokka up.  
"I won't get to eat?" Sokka cried and Zuko nodded then almost ordered  
"Go check on her!"  
Sokka got out of his sleeping bag and hurried towards Katara's room inside the air temple. A few minutes later he came back and loudly declared  
"Guys, bad new, Katara's has fallen and we will have to starve today."  
"What?" Zuko looked up, incredulously "What do you mean she has fallen?"  
"She has a fever"  
"Did you check her temperature?" Zuko's voice was laced with more concerned than Sokka had expected.  
"Yeah, it pretty hot"  
Zuko quickly grabbed a clean cloth and filled a bowl with water then he handed the bowl of water with the cloth in it to Sokka.  
"Here, put this on her forehead. This will lower her temperature" Sokka give him a confused look  
"Should I put the bowl on her head or the....." Zuko huffed at the Sokka's utter cluelessness.  
"You know what, I'll do it" he took back the bowl and marched towards Katara's room.  
Katara looked awful, her face was pale instead of the usual shining brown, her nose and the skin around it had become red with rash and her blue bright eyes looked lifeless with large dark circles surrounding it. Sokka watched attentively from behind as Zuko squeezed most of the water out of the cloth and put it on Katara's forehead. Then he checked her pulse and took, what Sokka thought was, an uncomfortably long look at his sister's face before saying  
"How long has she been sick?" Zuko gave a very worried look that Sokka didn't think he was capable of giving. "She is dehydrated, she needs a lot fluid. Keep watch on her. I'll get some water for her to drink." then he went to get water while Sokka sat beside his sister. 

Katara kept mumbling some nonsense that neither of them could understand. They tried their best to force feed her some water. After that Zuko left to check on things outside. He was pretty confident that no one beside Katara in this group knew how to cook. But they had to eat something so he went to check on the kitchen supplies and started preparing breakfast. By the time Aang and Toph were back Zuko had finished making some kind of an edible food. It consisted of some misshapen bread and a stew that had every ingredient near Zuko's hands chucked into it. Aang gave a terrified look after seeing the food Zuko was serving and Toph couldn't help but asked  
"Why are you in the kitchen, Sparky?"  
"Yeah, where is Katara?" Aang added, worriedly. Zuko was about to answer when Sokka walked outside.  
"She has a fever. A bad one." he said before handing Zuko the bowl of water which was warm-ish now. Aang looked in utter anguish, his perturbation made Zuko think that he might fall sick from worrying too much.  
"How is she doing, now?" Zuko asked as he refilled the water.  
Sokka shook his head "Not good the temperature is down a little but still....Not Good!"  
"Here, have some food." Zuko gave Sokka the fresh bowl of water and a plate of food.  
"I don't think Katara can eat this though" Sokka said eating spoonful off his portion. Toph had also started eating, it didn't taste great but she was too tired and too hungry to complain.  
"I don't think I can eat this either. Is this vegetarian?" Aang suspiciously looked at the stew.  
"Well, no one told me you were vegetarian!" Zuko looked up in annoyance.  
"Okay, okay I'll eat some fruit. Spirits, calm down" Aang went towards his reserved bag of fruits he had collected and picked out some lycheenuts and started chewing on them.  
"Give that bag to me." Zuko suddenly ordered. He rampaged through Aang fruit bag and pulled out a peachapple and a pomegranatemelon. He put some pomegranatemelon seeds into a clean cloth then twisted and squeezed it to get all the juices out and into a glass. He also cut some peachapple into bite size pieces and gave them to Sokka.  
"She needs to eat, without strength she will never get better."  
Sokka balanced all the food and the water as he walked towards Katara's room. He was secretly thankful that Zuko was here to help them out or else they would be sitting around hopelessly. Zuko ate his own food and watched as everyone finished their breakfast and leave their dishes as if a house maid was going to come and clean it all up. Toph and Aang even left their mud covered clothes outside for him to wash. Did they really expect him to do the dishes and the laundry?  
He thought he was joining the elite team of the Avatar and here he was sitting by the river, washing mud cakes out of their clothes. Instead of helping in ending the war he felt like he had accidentally adopted 3 children. When he came back with the wash laundry he saw them sitting in a circle looking at him expectantly.  
"Lunch?" Sokka asked and Zuko was beyond stunned by their audacity. He gave them an astonished look. 'How much work does Katara do around here?' he wondered.  
"UNBELIEVABLE, UNACCEPTABLE!!" he yelled at them, his dad voice full on display. "Of course Katara has fallen sick! If she is doing all this work ALONE day in and day out for spirits know how many months no wonder she is sick! I am surprised that she isn't DEAD yet!" Zuko was furious, he threw the clean laundry down on the ground to make a point "You all need to pull your weight around here. YOU" he pointed at Sokka "go find some fish. You" then at Aang "start cutting the vegetables. And you" lastly at Toph "hang the clothes to dry then check on Katara"  
All of them got on their feet and almost sprinted in different directions. The fire prince who clearly had some anger issues screaming at them with a red face wasn't the indication of something good happening.  
"Helpless imbeciles" Zuko grumbled under his breath, still fuming with anger, as he started a fire to put on a pot.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara is still sick so Zuko trys to help. But Katara is not having it. Also Sokka and Zuko have a heart to heart and begin their life long friendship.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is me trying to rationalising why Zuko made the decision he made in crossroads of destiny. I obviously don't think it was the right decision but I'm just trying to explore his reasons.

By dinner time Zuko felt exhausted. He was stirring a pot of carrotcabbage soup with one arm while separately roasting three fish with his firebending. He had been working non-stop from dawn and at this point he wanted to run away. He wondered how Katara tolerated this for so many months. Speaking of Katara atleast she was doing better now. She still had a mild fever but now they could at least understand what she was saying. Sokka had spend almost all day at her bedside taking care of her which Zuko had helped him with. Though Zuko was careful to not help when Katara was awake. He didn't think she would appreciate him in her room while she was in her correct senses. But that had to change when Sokka didn't come to take Katara's dinner.  
"Toph, where is Aang?" Zuko asked, standing with the soup he had kept aside for Katara. If Sokka didn't come to take it then maybe he could send Aang in with it.  
"He went flying, said Appa was getting bored." Toph nonchalantly replied. Zuko looked at Toph for a minute before requesting   
"Can you take.... "  
"No can do." Toph cut him short "I have done enough chores for a lifetime."  
"You literally did two things"  
"Just man up and go in there, Sparky. What the worst she can do to you?" Toph said assertively.  
"Throw icicle daggers at me and kill me" Zuko said matter-of-factly before deciding to bring in the food himself. He knocked on the door which was answered by only a soft 'hmm'. When he entered he saw Sokka passed out on his sick sister's lap, snoring in his sleep. Katara eyes became sharp when she saw who was entering her room. She tried to give him glare but she seems too tired to do that.  
"What do you want?" she asked in a raspy voice. Zuko guessed that she had a sore throat.  
"Nothing. I just brought the food." Katara seemed confused.  
"Who cooked?" She knew Aang doesn't know how to cook and Toph couldn't possibly cook and her brother was hopeless when it came to cooking. That leaves only one option  
"I don't want to eat your food" she said rudely.  
"It's not my food!" Zuko's tolerance was reaching its limits "Your brother did the fishing, Aang did the cutting, I just started the fire and added some salt and stirred"  
"I rather starve than eat food that you cooked." Katara turned her face away from Zuko in defiance.  
"Why do you always have to be like this?" Frustration and irritation crept into Zuko's voice "Even when you are sick you have to be so.....Stubborn!"  
"When did you exactly start caring about my sicknesses?" Katara half yelled waking Sokka up from his sleep.  
"I am just trying to help, okay?"  
"I thought I already told you I don't...." she had to stop to cough "I don't need your help"  
Sokka looked at the both of them in utter confusion. He was actually quite shocked at his sister sudden liveliness.  
"Sure you don't. Because taking care of 3 helpless children is SO EASY!"  
"It's not easy! But they are MY helpless children"  
Sokka was absolutely clueless about what was going on. What children? Whose children? When did his sister and the Fire prince have children!?! "What are you two talking about?" he finally interjected, trying to put a stop to this screaming match between two highly agitated people. Zuko and Katara both sneered at each other without breaking eye contact.  
"Feed your sister if you can" Zuko forcefully kept the bowl of soup on the bedside table before stomping away. 

Zuko huffed angrily, gritting his teeth. He knew he had betrayed her trust, a trust that he didn't deserve in the first place. But he was trying, right? He was trying his hardest to make amends. Then why couldn't she just cut him a slake once in a while, especially when she clearly needed help. He was just offering to share the workload, how is that asking too much? He, the prince of fire nation, was literally asking to be her slave and be bossed around by her. And she still wasn't accepting.  
"Why is she like this!" he screamed into the air, standing near the edge of the temple.  
"Like what?" Zuko heard Sokka's voice coming from behind him, he turned around to face him "stubborn, relentless, unwilling to budge. Why do I feel like I am describing someone besides my sister?" Sokka had his eyebrows raised towards him. Zuko sighed calming down, this must be how his uncle felt dealing with him everyday.  
"Listen buddy, Katara is kind and empathetic but she is also fierce and protective. You broke her trust once.... Aang almost died, it's going to take a lot for her to trust you again." Sokka's tone was oddly understanding.  
"I know" Zuko whispered almost inaudibly "I know I just wish we could to reach an understanding. I don't like fighting with her all the time."  
He sat down at edge of the temple, legs dangling off the cliff.  
"Can I ask something?" Sokka came to sit beside him "If you were going to join us ultimately why didn't you just do it early, when you had the chance? I mean did you really have doubts about your dad's evilness after seeing what he had done to the world?"  
"No, I just.... " Zuko instinctively touch his scarred cheek and trailed off before massage in his forehead and rephrasing "I wish you would understand my side of things. My choice was between the avatar and his ragtag group of friends or my sister and a chance to go home after years of banishment. I guess I just wanted to go home.....and I was naive enough to think that that was still my home."  
(That stop being my home the day my mother left) he though but didn't say.  
A long silence followed Zuko words after a while Sokka spoke  
"I get the home part but your sister she is crazy, man."  
"Don't get me wrong I know Azula is horrible and manipulative and evil person but that doesn't change the fact that she is still my sister.....she is as messed up if not more messed up than me. At least I had my mom and my uncle, people who actually loved me, she just had Ozai. He didn't treat me half as good as her and yet I still became his lapdog. I mean no wonder she follows his words like a scripture."  
Sokka sat there for a while thinking what if he was in Zuko's shoes. Would he support an insane Katara or go with a bunch of strangers to save the world? Sokka was all for greater good but when it was his family or greater good, he wasn't sure which side he would end up supporting. He suddenly felt bad for Zuko, if he had to choose between dad, Gran-gran and Katara or the world, he didn't think he was selfless enough to choose the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first published fanfic work and I'm absolutely over the Tui that it got so many hits and kudos in one day. Thank you so much.  
> P. S. I will update frequently when I'm in a mood to write and not at all when I'm not in the right zone. Sorry if that's annoying too anyone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara is slightly jealous of Zuko and what seems like his better parenting skills. She also hates the fact that her own brother is defending him. But learn to see the picture from his side a little.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Katara is the pov character in this one.

The next morning Katara woke up feeling much better. Her fever was gone and through she had a sore throat and rashes on her nose, today was still an improvement. She went outside and the sunshine radiated warmth on her face. Oh, she missed the fresh air even though she has been in her room for only one day. Katara stretched her limbs and heard her stomach growling. She being true to her word starved instead of eating the food Zuko provided. Now that she was well enough to cook some food for herself, she thought she should go with something simple like porridge.  
"Katara, how are you feeling?" she heard Aang's cheerful voice coming from the front. He and Toph were just returning from earthbending practice.  
"Much better." she said with a smile as she pour herself some freshly cooked porridge. "Do you want some?" Katara offered before eating.  
"Oh no, Zuko made breakfast early today. We already ate."  
"Of course, he did." Katara's smile disappeared as she gulped a spoonful of her food. 'Does he really think that by acting all nice and stuff he could fool her again?' Katara spitefully wondered. She wasn't that dumb. After finishing breakfast she wanted to stretch her legs since she didn't feel well enough to do waterbending yet she though about just going for a walk, preferably somewhere near a water source. Just being near water cleared Katara's head and energised her but her bliss didn't last very long. She heard laughing noises from the other end of the shore. One belonged to her brother, she was sure of it, the other one seemed unfamiliar. She had heard the voice, yes, but never heard it laughing before. Katara walked towards the voices to see what was so funny.  
"You seriously offered a free coupon for a cup of tea TO A GIRL on the FIRST DATE?" Sokka head fell back as he laughed his lungs out.  
"It worked! She kissed me." Zuko protested, loudly.  
'Who kissed him?' Katara found herself asking. Then she shook her head 'why do I care?'.  
'But who would like this jackass?' she asked herself again then mentally slap herself 'NONE OF MY BUSINESS!'  
"Trust me, buddy that should not have work. I know I am kind of a ladies man around here." Sokka assured and Zuko scoffed  
"Sure you are." as he collected the sack full of fishes he had caught today. Then they started walking back towards their camp-site when Sokka eyes fell on Katara who was poorly trying to hide behind the bank of the river.  
"Katara, you are awake! I thought you would never get out of bed!" he seemed extremely joyous to see his sister standing up "You look better. What are you doing here?"  
"Came for a stroll." she flatly answered "Mind if I talk to my brother for a minute.... Alone." she gave Zuko the same nasty glare, he had gotten used to. He walked away as Katara pulled Sokka to the side.  
"Why are you being nice to him?" she demanded "Have you forgotten all the time he chased us and tried to kill us?"  
"He wasn't trying to kill us, okay? That was his totally insane sister." Seeing Sokka defend Zuko was Katara's worst nightmare.  
"And that's suddenly fine with you?!"  
"He was just trying to capture the Avatar...." Sokka looked into his sister's fuming eyes and he quietly said "... And restore his honor."  
"WHAT!" Katara screamed in her broken voice.  
"You have to say the whole thing. You can't say half and not say the other half"  
"I....am disowning you. You're no longer my brother."  
With that she started walking away and Sokka ran after her  
"Katara, wait. I know you are angry at him and you have every right to be but I understand him. I am sorry but I do. He wanted to go home even if it meant betraying a few unknown people. He missed his home, his family.... I miss home, I miss dad, don't you?"  
Katara's footsteps froze, she turned around, her angry eyes softening. Sokka continued "Don't you want to go back to the South Pole? Sit around the table and eat together with dad and gran-gran.... And mom."  
A small tear trickled down Katara's cheek "That doesn't excuse what he DID! It doesn't make it okay."  
"I am not saying it does. But it does explain why he did it."  
"Fine be nice to your 'buddy' but don't expect anything from me." she said before storming off. All the screaming and crying had given Katara a headache she was better locked up in her room. Fresh air is overrated. 

It was about 2 in the noon when Katara woke up from her second nap. Turn out all the yelling she did was too much for her still weak body to handle. When she walked outside the aroma of fish head stew assaulted her nose and mouth. She licked his lips once, she was so hungry.  
"Ah... Sparky your cooking skills have improved exponentially from yesterday." Toph stood over Zuko's shoulders complementing his cooking. While Zuko proudly stared at the pot of food he had cooked.  
"I think it has more to do with my uncle's recipe than with my cooking." Zuko said and Toph smiled, nodding  
"I don't doubt it. That man could really brew up a mean cup of tea"  
"Yeah he really could"  
No one missed the tints of sadness in Zuko's voice.  
"Thanks for cooking separately for me." Aang thanked from the side as he served himself from a smaller, separated pot. Katara's skin burned as she watched the entire group going gaga over Zuko and his cooking. She has been cooking for them everyday for about an year yet no one seems to be complimenting her. EVER. Katara cleared her throat and everyone turned  
"Katara, you woke up.... Again. Hopefully less angry this time." Sokka spoke cautiously.  
"Are you going to eat today or.... " Zuko looked up at her. 'He had some nerves' she thought. She discreetly swallowed the saliva that had gathered in her mouth from the delicious smell.  
"Only because I don't want to be a spoilsport." Katara begrudgingly sat down, she was too tired to cook again and the food smell so good. She couldn't believe how weak she was but her will kept faltering in front of her growling stomach. A soft smile appeared on Zuko's face as he arranged the dishes in front of everyone. As much as Katara hated Zuko's face.... And every other parts of his body too, she couldn't denied that he look adorable with that soft smile on his lips. Her eyes kept drifting of towards him during lunch and the fact that he had made a moan-worthy meal wasn't helping. She had also caught Zuko staring at her, several times but his eyes were more asking for her approval than checking her out. An approval that Katara didn't give him, by the way.  
After everyone finished having lunch, due to a force of habit Katara went to grab everyone dishes. But much to her surprise both Aang and Toph were picking up their own dishes and started washing them. Her eyes widened in shock and then in horror. What had Zuko done to her friends? Did he brainwashed them? Did he kidnapped them and changed them with eerily similar looking people who cleaned after themselves?  
"Why are they washing their dishes?" Katara whispered to her brother who was still eating the 5th or maybe the 10th serving.  
"Oh, yeah. Zuko threaten us, said that if we didn't clean up the dishes he will serve us in the same dirty plate."  
"That's it? A threat?" Katara looked lost "I threaten you, all the time."  
"Yeah....but his threat were not like yours. He actually gave us breakfast in our dirty plates from yesterday night." Sokka stopped to chew on his food then said "His threats were real, yours are more, how do I put it..... Empty"  
Katara nostrils flared up as he glare at everyone of these unappreciative jerks. 'Empty.... EMPTY!' She promptly stomped towards the jerkiest of all jerk around.  
"Hey, you!" Zuko turned when he noticed he was being barked at "How are you doing this? I have tried forever to make them do their chores but they never listen to me. And they are listening to YOU?"  
"It has nothing to do with me. They just take you for granted. You silently do all their work and keep making their lives comfortable without asking for anything in return. So they just never learned to value the amount of effort you put in." Zuko muttered quietly as he washed his own dishes "Sometimes maybe you should take a day off, let them fend for themselves.....then they might even learn to appreciate you more."  
Katara didn't want to agree with him but his advice was on point. She works so hard everyday to accommodate these people and they act like it's nothing.  
"You know what I think I will take a day off." she said before wandering away, leaving her plate for Zuko to clean. Zuko chuckle softly and sadly, they often forgot that she too was a 15 year old kid forced to grow up too quickly.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko and Katara talk like normal humans for the first time. Hakoda tries to threaten Zuko and Zuko gets to see first hand what a real family looks like.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is set right after boiling rock part 2.  
> I thought Hakoda should get some quality time with his children before they are separated again

The group was in a celebratory mood. Hakoda sat around the campfire with Aang, Suki and his children telling old tales and folklore from the south watertribe. Sokka kept inching inappropriately closer to Suki while Toph was having the time of her life sparing with, or more accurately beating up the new guy. Katara noticed with slight disappointment that Zuko wasn't a part of the celebration. She hated him of course (she felt the need to remind herself that now-a-days). But he did just helped her brother free her father from one of the most guarded prisons in the fire nation so it wasn't THAT odd that she was a little worried about him, right? After all Zuko had been all doomy-gloomy ever since he came back, she had plenty reason to be concerned. Katara walked around the campsite trying to find Zuko whilst also continuing to justify to herself her growing concerns for the fire nation prince. She finally found him sitting at his favourite place, the edge of the cliff.  
"Why are you sitting here alone?" Katara asked suspiciously. Zuko turned around when he heard her voice and raised an eyebrow at her unapologetic intrusion.  
"Why aren't you rejoicing with your brother and your father?" he asked, noting the laughter that was ringing out of the campsite.  
'Because I am worried about you' Katara wasn't going admit that out loud.  
"I was just curious about your whereabouts? Which, I am getting more curious about because you are avoiding answering my initial question."  
Zuko sighed, shaking his head. He wasn't in the mood to get into an argument with her today.  
"I am thinking about my sister."  
"Thinking of joining her again" Katara unnecessarily jabbed and Zuko replied sternly  
"No, I am thinking what she might have done to my girlfriend....ex-girlfriend for betraying her and saving my life."  
Katara's eyes widened, Suki did mention the fight they had with Azula and Ty lee. But she didn't know the details on how exactly they had escaped Zuko's insanely dangerous sister.  
"The girl with the knives helped you all?" she asked apprehensively "She is your....girlfriend?" Katara didn't want to sound nice but she also didn't want to be too aggressive that it sounded like she was jealous.  
"Was. How did you know?" Zuko turned his gaze away from Katara to hide his vulnerability.  
"Well, the other one...the chi blocking girl is too bubbly for your type."  
"And how do you exactly know my type?"  
"Because it's written all over your angsty, joyless face."  
Zuko scowl a little at that comment. 'My face isn't angsty' he thought but didn't say anything.  
"What happened between you and...your....girlfriend?" Katara suddenly started having problems speaking. She didn't know why she was having a hard time saying the word girlfriend. 'Girlfriend' she said normally in her head then she tried to say 'Zuko's gir...l...friend. What the hell is WRONG with you!?!' she yelled at herself.  
"I wrote her a letter to break up with her, before I left to join you guys." Zuko answered and Katara came back to reality with a shock.  
"A letter! You broke up with someone through a LETTER! Wow, you're more of a jerk than I thought you were. Ugh.... Who breaks up with a letter?"  
"Yeah, yeah I know....she wasn't too pleased with the letter either...." Zuko moved his fingers through his hair "But I couldn't talk to her face to face. If she was seen last with the....traitor prince she would have been treated with hostility. And I didn't want her to suffer because of me....not that it matters anymore since she probably is suffering, right now, all because of me."  
Katara observe as Zuko's face turned solemn, he stared into the dark with a guilty expression.  
"Come on, sitting alone in the dark thinking about the worst possible fate someone you love is suffering won't help. Trust me, I have tried. Come with me." Katara suggested before vaguely patting Zuko's head to comfort him though she didn't want to seem too nice.  
"Why does everyone in this group keep telling me to trust them?" Zuko asked himself before following the waterbender. 

Zuko made tea and tended to the camp fire while Hakoda re-enacted his attempts and successive failure at starting a prison riot. He gushed over his son's tactical knowledge that ultimately broke them free. Sokka blush furiously at the compliments and Katara smile proudly. Zuko watch Hakoda, Katara and Sokka laughing together and conversing blissfully, this was all so foreign to him. He had never seen his family or any other families he knew being so comfortable with each other. 'Is this what a real family looked like?' he wondered. Then his thoughts were interrupted by Suki who was sharing the story of Sokka's brief time as a Kyoshi warrior. Hakoda chuckle in amusement and astonishment as he eagerly asked  
"Then what happened?"  
Suki scratched the back of her neck  
"Well, then the training was cut short when...." she hesitantly looked at Zuko.  
"When the fire nation attacked." Katara completed the sentence.  
"Again, sorry about that." Zuko apologised again as he served everyone tea. Apologising had now become his go to way to start a conversation. 'Hello, nice to meet you, sorry for whatever awful thing I did to you in the past.'  
Now Aang had started talking about the time an inexperienced Katara had challenged a master waterbender to a dual. Listening to all these stories made Hakoda realising how much time he had missed with his children and how quickly they had grown up, without him. After having tea and chatting way into the night everyone finally decided to go to sleep. As Zuko made his bed in the corner he felt someone approaching.  
"So you are the infamous Firenation prince huh? We didn't get a chance to actually talk..... I was hoping we could. Do you have a minute?" Hakoda said from behind Zuko's shoulders. Zuko turned and note that the southern watertribe Chieftain had a large and quite intimidating stature.  
"I have all the minutes." he said then asked himself 'Why did I say that? That such a weird thing to say'.  
"My son tells me that you are on a redemptive path....and I believe him. And of course you helped break me out of prison so that's....good." Hakoda was as uncomfortable if not more uncomfortable than Zuko.  
"I'm sensing a but." Zuko looked up. Katara and her dad both looked the same when they were trying to threaten someone.  
"But you are the enemy's son. Your father is the one who put me there in the first place so forgive me if I don't trust you right away. My son sees you as a friend I hope you will not break his trust like you broke my daughter's. If you do.... "  
"Your daughter already threatens to end my....destiny, if I step out of line." Zuko said cutting Hakoda's threat short "And with all due respect, chieftain, I'm far more afraid of Katara than I will ever be of you."  
Hakoda could hear the sincerity in Zuko's words and he had already seen first hand what an incredible master waterbender his daughter had become.  
"Fair enough." he said before walking away. 

The next morning after another frustrating session of firebending with Aang, Zuko went to the river to wash himself. He submerged himself in the river but today he was so angry that the water around his skin kept turning into steam instead of cooling him. 'Why couldn't he do one thing right?' he sat there thinking when he saw Sokka and Hakoda also heading towards the river. Hakoda was teaching his son how to properly fish which, if Zuko was being honest, was something Sokka really needed to learn. After a while he got out of the water and was drying his hair when he noticed Katara also coming towards the river. Zuko watched from a far as her father and brother splashed water towards her. She was surprised at first but quickly reacted by bending a large spear of water on top of Hakoda and Sokka's head and absolutely drenching them from head to toe. Hakoda laughed it off and patted his daughter's shoulder proudly while Sokka mumbled and complained from the side.  
Zuko still eyeing them, took a deep breath. This is what a father is supposed to be like, loving, supportive, encouraging. Not someone who constantly pits their children against each other and tells one of them that they shouldn't have existed. Any other time Zuko would have been envious of them but today he was glad. This family have suffered for long enough they deserve some happiness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BTW isn't breaking up with a letter in ancient times much like breaking up through text.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko admits to Katara that he needs her help with Aang's firebending training and she agrees. But soon their training turns into an argument about what's best for their surrogate child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set before Azula's attack in the Southern Raiders.  
> Firebending is not coming so easily to Aang because of his fear which is still very present.

When Katara came back to the Campsite she saw that Zuko had already prepared lunch. She couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed by this. Ever since she had recovered from her fever making lunch with Zuko had become a part of her daily routine. A part that she quite enjoyed since she got to boss him around and make him do things that she absolutely hated doing herself.  
"You're done making lunch, already?" Katara was hoping he had left something out.  
"Yeah.... I saw you spending some time with your father. I didn't want to disturb, hope you don't mind." Zuko spoke nicely enough that it almost sounded sweet.  
'That's very thoughtful of you' another thing Katara thought but didn't say.  
"No, that's alright." she said before starting to walk away.  
"Hey, I need your....help with something" Zuko called and Katara a little too eagerly snapped around  
"Really! With what?"  
"I am having a hard time getting through to Aang. Toph said you helped her, I was wondering if you could help me." Katara smiled cockily at Zuko's request.  
"Aw, look who needs help."  
"Just say YES or NO, okay!! You don't have to mock me." Zuko stood up suddenly breaking out of his calm demeanor.  
"Thought you'd never ask." Katara teased, purposefully avoiding saying yes or no just to annoy him a bit more. 

If one master wasn't enough for one training session Avatar Aang today had all three masters come along with him for his firebending training. Zuko obviously had to be there, Katara was there to offer encouragement to Aang and advise to Zuko while Toph was purely there because she believed something hilarious was going to happen. Zuko intentionally chose a rather barren land to minimize the damage Aang would do with his lack of control over firebending. Now he was standing in the middle of that very land yelling in annoyance as Aang missed the target over and over again.  
"HOW CAN ANYONE MISS SUCH A HUGE TARGET?!!!!" Zuko vehemently shook his hands as he gestured towards the humongous bolder they were calling a target. They had initially started small but since Aang kept missing it Katara suggested to make it a little bigger so that once he hits it his confidence grows and he is able to hit the smaller ones easily. And little by little the 'target' had grown so much that it was basically a small hill at this point. Zuko halfway through pulling his hair out, he did not understand how anyone could miss that.  
"Bending fire disc is hard, Zuko, they are very fragile." Aang cried out resulting in Zuko giving him a death glare  
"Really? Tell me more.... Any other enlightening wisdom you want to part on us Mr. Avatar." he sneered. As soon as he stomped towards the Aang Katara jumped between them to protect him. She put her hand on Zuko's chest to stop him and.... 'damn those muscles are hard. What?! No. Katara, focus!'  
"Okay, okay calm down. No need to get hostile." she said, shaking away her own jarring thoughts.  
"Calm down! CALM DOWN!" Zuko overdramatically screamed at the sky.  
"Okay, repeating what I said, only louder, isn't going to help you do that."  
"How can you say that? The faith of the world depends on him learning firebending."  
"If you put so much pressure he won't succeed. He will only run away."  
"Ahh! I don't even know what to do at this point. Fire canons are too overwhelming for him, fire discs are too fragile and on and on he goes....it's like whatever I try to teach him he finds some default in it." Zuko groaned inwardly "He has a crippling fear of fire. He can never control it if he fears it." Katara gave understanding nodded then a look that said 'I'll handle this' and went to talk Aang. While Zuko continued rampaged around the field still trying to not rip his own head off. Katara cooed and uplifted Aang to convince him to try again. Zuko watches as Aang begrudgingly accepts because how could he disobey Katara. They started their practice anew again. 

After another hour of screaming and frustrated stomping and whining Katara cheery voice came from behind.  
"That's better! That was close!"  
She was referring to the most recent fire disc that Aang had thrown which had just missed the target by a little.  
"No, it wasn't. Missing the target and missing the target slightly has one thing in common.... MISSING THE TARGET!!" Zuko was definitely going to lose his voice from too much yelling "How can you miss THIS target?" he looked at the Avatar, he still couldn't get over the obnoxiousness of their target.  
"I am sorry, okay? But this is all just too much." Aang whimpered giving Katara puppy eyes to come save him.  
"It's okay. You'll get it, don't worry." Katara soothed and Zuko nostrils flared with anger.  
"You need man up." he said to Aang then looked at Katara "And you need to stop babying him."  
"I'm not babying him!" Katara seemed quite offended by this accusation.  
"Yes, clearly you are not." Zuko sarcastically said, eyeing Katara's hand which was still on Aang's shoulders, reassuring him. Katara quickly removed her hand and reminded  
"You are the one who asks me for help.... "  
"I asked you to give him positive reinforcement not coddle him." Zuko cut her off. Now both of them were sneering at each other again and Aang looks like a polarbearpuppy caught between two tigerdillos.  
"Finally! About time. This is what I came here for."  
They heard Toph's voice coming from the ledge of the cliff from where she had been sitting and watching them.  
"You need to learn how to man up from Toph. She literally fears nothing, she invented a new bending technique for spirits sake and you are afraid of a little bit of fire."  
"Hey! hey, hey don't compare him to Toph." Katara cautioned.  
"Why not? He is the Avatar and she is a blind girl.....he has done this hundreds of times before and he is still so bad. Why is he so bad, Katara? WHY?" Zuko looked at her in despair and she was absolutely confused on if this was a rhetorical question or he actually wanted an answer. Although Zuko wasn't waiting for her answer he pull Aang out from behind her.  
"You are coming with me! You're not going to eat or sleep or even sit down until and unless you get this right."  
Zuko yanking Aang by his collar and was taking him away when Katara held his hand to keep him in his place.  
"He is not going anywhere." she informed.  
Zuko glared at Katara as he pulled Aang's collar. Katara glared back as she pulled Aang's hand. While Aang shrieked in between his masters who were trying to pull him apart.  
"Let go, Katara! I'm his firebending teacher. I will decide how to teach him. "  
"Well I don't agree with your teaching techniques!"  
"You wanna see whose technique is better."  
"Oh, let's do this."  
Both of them pushed Aang out of the way and started circling each other. As Aang stumbled backwards he tried to de-escalate the situation but Toph warned, raising a brick wall in front of herself  
"Move out of the way, twinkletoes. Or else you will get charred and drown."  
Aang swiftly ran towards Toph and brick walls to get behind safety as icicles daggers and fire balls started showering overhead.  
"This is what I was talking about! Fight, Fight, Fight!" Toph enthusiastically cheered while Aang's perplexed face became paler with worry. 

Katara swirled her hands in the air to conjure up all the water from around her. Zuko saw drops of sweats floating up from his skin and going towards her hands. She made a long and sharp water whip and held the handle in her right hand while the rest of it spiraled around her body. If Zuko was a little less exhausted or fustrated he would have found this sight extremely alluring but unfortunately right now he didn't care. He sprinted towards Katara dodging and ducking out of the way as she slapped her whip around. He cut through the water whip with his fire daggers and small wisps of steam sizzled around them. When Zuko was close enough he kicked her on the delicate flesh behind her knee making Katara lose her stance and hurdle downwards. He seemed to be more dependent on his physical prowess than his bending to defeat her. Katara returned the favour by freezing his feets and throwing a water sphere to knock him down.  
"Go Sparky! Go Sugar Queen!" Toph clapped, beyond entertained as both Katara and Zuko got back on their feets. Their little shuffle continued for the next few minutes before Zuko threw a fire wave at Katara and she raised an ice wall to protect herself.  
"Didn't you just use a waterbending technique against me?" Katara looked astonished and quite offended.  
"My uncle told me....that the best benders learn....from all the bending techniques." Zuko was still panting.  
"Wait a second!" Aang screamed from the cliff ledge, they stopped their fight to listen to him "Can I learn firebending through waterbending poses? Because I know all the waterbending poses and I was a fast learner too."  
He looked at Katara who nodded in conformation.  
"That's actually....not a bad idea." Zuko said thoughtfully "Once you learn to create and control fire the firebending stances will come easier to you."  
"Let's try it then." Katara suggested and Aang keenly nodded.  
Zuko and Katara stood on either side of Aang, Katara demonstrated the pose while Zuko explained the method.  
"That's it. That's IT! Follow Katara's motion." Zuke spoke excitedly as a small wave of fire ignited near Aang'sfeet. Tears of joy were going to stream out of Zuko's eyes when he watched Aang swaying the fire wave back and forth with control.  
"Great job!" Katara hugged Aang with joy and relief. Aang had finally succeeded and their 5 hour training was FINALLY coming to an end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I like the idea zutara teaching together also I just loved incorporating two bending styles and making a new innovative one.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko is worried about Aang running away from a fight. Toph shares his concerns. Zuko and Katara have a fight about it and Zuko gets to rant. Then all three bending masters decide to attack Aang to make him battle ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set before the southern raiders.
> 
> Zuko is super sassy in this chapter cause I love sassy Zuko, don't you?

Zuko watched with a frown as his student ran around the forest hitting all the targets he had set up with fireballs. Aang missed a few but was hitting most of them so Toph didn't understand the reason for the frown.  
"What's the matter, sifu hotman? He is doing much better than the last time I saw him firebending or more like sucking at firebending."  
"In practice, yeah, he is doing better. But in reality his first instinct is still to run when attacked instead of fighting back." Zuko massaged his forehead and sighed.  
"Well, what did you expect? He is an airbender." Toph asked, remembering the struggles she had to go through to teach him to stand his ground.  
"I know that he is an airbender and evading and avoiding is engraved in him but.... He is going to be facing my father and if he doesn't attack back Ozai will see it as his weakness. And Ozai is very good at exploiting weaknesses."  
Toph noticed that Zuko looked more concerned than usual. Of course they were all worried about the fate of the world but judging by Zuko's expressions he seemed more worried about his friend's life.  
"Don't worry, I'll see what I can do." Toph reassured, punching Zuko's shoulders once. He only nodded in response.  
"Did you see that? Did you see that!" Aang asked as he swang off of a tree and landed in front of them. He was pointing at the smallest and hardest target Zuko had placed and he had successfully hit. Aang looked at Zuko with big round eyes, seeking his approval.  
"Yes, yes we all saw that, twinkle toes." Toph answered instead of Zuko "Time for some earthbending, come on." she said before ushering him away. 

Back at the camp Sokka was sharpening his space sword while Hakoda and Suki were exchanging fighting tips when they heard Katara and Zuko's voices getting louder. They have been bickering for a while now about what to make for lunch and things seemed to be getting heated now.  
"But if we make all the rice now we will have nothing for dinner." Katara argued.  
"Then make some bread."  
"Ugh.... We don't have enough flour to make bread for everyone!" Katara turned to glare at Zuko who threw his arms up in the air.  
"Why are you getting angry at me? It's not like I am snorting all the flour?"  
Everyone stopped their respective works to stare at them. Hakoda leaned towards his son to ask  
"What is the....nature of your sister's....relationship with the fire prince?"  
Sokka looked at his father wordlessly, he was having a hard time putting their 'relationship' in words.  
"I dunno....they are....complicated and sometimes super weird." he eventually said.  
"Should we stop them?" Suki asked, looking at Katara who was now pointing a finger at Zuko accusingly.  
"It's better not to get between them if you don't want to be impaled by ice and fire daggers." Sokka cordially informed.  
Thankfully Katara and Zuko's argument didn't escalate to another duel because of Toph's arrival.  
"Group, Listen up!" Toph called out. Katara, Sokka and Zuko were the first to walk upto her "We bending masters need to have a talk."  
"What about me?" Sokka asked and Zuko ordered in response.  
"Go play with Aang."  
"What? No." Katara snapped at Zuko whilst stopping Sokka "He can stay, he gets family member privileges."  
"Whatever is going on between you two, for now, just shove it down your throats, please?" Toph barked at Katara and Zuko "We have more important business to take care of. Zuko pointed this out earlier about Aang and after throwing rocks at him and provoking him for 3 hour I unfortunately have to agree with him.... Aang is NOT fighting back. He is not standing his ground, everything I had taught him seems to have gone down the drain. I am not sure about our chances of winning this war if the Avatar starts running the moment the Firelord attacks."  
"I don't see why we should be worried about this." Katara seemed unfazed by the other two masters concerns "I mean of course Aang is a pacifist, he was raised by monks."  
"Yes of course, Katara, a pacifist mong is exactly what we need to defeat the evil Firelord with the plans of world domination." Zuko chided from beside her.  
"I don't get the reason for this hassle. He is the Avatar, I'm sure he will do what he needs to when the time comes."  
"I wonder why I'm so worried about the Avatar running away from a fight?" Zuko questioned himself just to be dramatic "Oh, right! Because he has DONE THAT BEFORE! If he had stopped the war when he was supposed to, none of us would be in this position right now."  
Katara's eyes widened and nostrils flared up as she predatorily walked towards Zuko.  
"Hey, that's not FAIR! You can't blame him for what YOUR FAMILY did. Your great-grandfather SOZIN started this war or have you FORGOTTEN that!?!" she aggressively poked her finger on his chest as she spoke.  
"Here we go again with these two." Toph sighed, shaking her head. Sokka just watched horrified and amused.  
"Yes.... Please Katara, allow me to apologize for..... NOT APOLOGIZING about things that happened before I was born and I had nothing to do with!" Zuko started pacing around he was to agitated to stay still "You don't think I'd have liked normal childhood with a normal family that doesn't commit genocide. I would have also like to have a dad instead of a warmonger." his gaze diverted slightly towards Hakoda "But I didn't get that because Aang decided to run. So forgive me for trying to stop history from repeating itself."  
Zuko's chest heaved as he exhaled heavily, he felt like he had just dumped a lifetime worth of frustration out into the world. Katara kept staring at him with a perpetually shocked expression. And it wasn't just her, everyone was staring at him with varying degrees of terror on their faces.  
"I will help you with whatever you two think we need to do to make Aang battle ready," Katara said after a while. She was addressing Toph mostly, she didn't want to look at Zuko right now. Katara feared she might fall for the sympathy act again if she looked at his face any longer. 

It was going to be a long evening for the Avatar as all three of his Masters prepared to attack him. They had decided, without his consent, that he needed to train for practical combat. So they had forced him to come to the river after dusk for another session of sparing. Only this time he would be sparing all three of them at the same time. Both Toph and Zuko seemed to be in a mood to beat him up and though Katara looked a little apprehensive she wasn't going to back out now. After a quick talk amongst themselves, the Masters all took attacking positions in front of Aang. They stood in an arrow with Katara to the left near the river bank, Zuko to his right and Toph front and centre.  
"Remember what we talked about, twinkletoes. Stand and fight." Toph reminded Aang. Then without a warning she pulled the earth from underneath his feet disbalancing him. Before he even had the time to recover both Zuko and Katara started simultaneously shooting fire and water at him. He put up an air shield but it wasn't strong enough to protect him against two powerful benders. As soon as Aang got up to his feet he started doing the one thing everyone told him not to do. Run.  
"Oh! Come on!" Toph screamed, irritated. She started rising wedges of land from both sides to stop him from running. In response Aang had pulled out his glider and took flight. Seeing that Toph was basically useless as long as Aang was above ground, attacking him fell on the shoulders of his other two masters. Zuko jumped into action, he ferociously charged after Aang whilst throwing firecanons at him. Katara, riding a wave, also chased after him shooting blocks of ice towards him. Unfortunately for Aang he couldn't keep flying for long, he felt Zuko flames reaching his feet and two ice blocks nearly missed his head. Once he landed he threw two boulders, one at each of his masters. Both of them effortlessly duck out of the way and Toph promptly redirected his boulders back towards him. Aang air sliced through the boulders then his bending Masters welcomed him back to the ground with an onslaught of attacks. The rest of the group, sitting on the other shore safely away from the action, saw several flashes of fire in quick succession accompanied by splashing of water and rumbling of rocks. From across the river in the dark they couldn't tell what was happening but they were pretty confident that Aang wasn't enjoying it.  
"Aang, Stop Running!" an exasperated Katara cried out.  
"Fight Back For Spirits Sake!" Zuko continued hurling fireballs at him. Aang reflexively threw an airslice towards Zuko which sent him flying backwards. Thankfully Katara grabbed him mid-air with one of her water tentacles while Aang continued running. He was too anxious right now to think clearly. His masters / friends were attacking him mercilessly and relentlessly and he didn't know what else to do besides run. Much to his aggrieved they were nowhere near stopping, Zuko and Katara were both still going strong. Despite their opposite elements they work surprisingly and annoyingly well together. They complemented each other's attacks, helped each other's defences and fed off each other's moves. They looked like they were performing a well coordinated dance. As she moved to his side he moved to hers, she bended a water wave he rained fire, he threw fire daggers she threw icicles. They were so much insync that Toph at this point had become a forgotten third wheel. 

After drenching and burning and covering the Avatar with mud for spirits know how long, Katara Toph and Zuko decide to stop when they noticed Aang wasn't running anymore. He wasn't fighting back either, he was just lying on the ground, motionless. They slowed their paces and tentatively approached Aang.  
"Is he alive?" Zuko warily asked Toph but Katara answered before she could.  
"YES!" she glared at Zuko then looked at Aang "Aang, what's wrong?"  
"Why are you all doing this to me? This doesn't feel like practice." he stared at them with pained eyes.  
"We are just trying to make you....battle ready." Katara reassuringly said but Aang wasn't buying it.  
"By trying to kill me?"  
"Ozai is not going to play around with you, he will aim to kill. So get used to people trying to kill you." Zuko roughly replied.  
"My friends trying to kill me is not going to make me....battle ready, it'll just make me hate you guys." he turned to face Katara "What is this really about?"  
"We are just afraid that you....that you might...." Katara couldn't make her utter the next words so Zuko helps her out  
"That you might run away again."  
Aang's eyes widen at that, he gives his friends a betrayed expression. He couldn't believe that his friends, people he considered family, didn't trust him to fulfil his destiny.  
"It's that what you....all think I'll do."  
"It's not what we think you'll do but there is a chance....I mean it won't be the first time." Toph shrugged apologetically.  
"Yeah....I ran away." Aang huffed, as he remembered the night he had run away from his people, his kind, his responsibilities "And I regret doing it....everyday. If I had stayed, maybe the Airnomads would have lived, maybe everyone I loved and cared about would have survived. I know that and I will have to live with that for the rest of my life. I promise I will....never make that mistake again." his teary eyes reflected his sincerity "You guys are my family. I love you and I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."  
Katara flung her arms around Aang and hugged him tightly, soon Toph also joined in. Zuko on the other hand passively stood beside them, letting them have their moment. But Toph wasn't having it, she yanked him in and forced him to join them. As they hugged they heard Sokka's voice coming from across the river.  
"Guys! What's going on? Are you having a moment? Why do I feel like you are having a moment? dON’t HaVE A MOmENt wiTHoUT ME!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Quick question is the humour working? Because if it's not I can dial it down. I only ask because my friend keeps telling me I'm not funny.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Scenes of Zuko and Katara talking about bloodbending and their mothers and other stuff littered in between the southern raiders episode.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during the southern raiders.  
> I don't usually make too many changes to canon episodes but I'm gonna make a few in this one. Notably I'm gonna have Azula attack the western air temple with the air fleet that belongs to the southern raiders to give Katara a more immediate reason to seek out her mother's killer.  
> Don't worry, this is NOT A REWRITE of the southern raiders I love that episode too much to do that.

Katara wasn't the type of person who freezes during a fight but when her eyes fell on the sea raven insignia of the war balloon Azula was standing on top of, every part of her body froze. She remained standing petrified, unable to move as her mind rushed back to the day her mother died. Katara knew she was in the western air temple, she could see the firenation airfleet ascending on them yet she felt like the 8 year old helpless girl in the south pole. Snow mixed with ash fell on her face as she ran haphazardly to find her mother. She remembered every single moment of that day so vividly like it happened yesterday. Seeing her mother on her knees with a man towering over her and that man's eyes. His vicious merciless eyes. Katara could never forget them, they were seared into her brain.  
"Ah!" she screamed when something pushed her to the floor, breaking her daze. Not something, someone. Zuko.  
"What are you doing?" she asked, trembling under Zuko body.  
"Keeping rocks from crushing you."  
"Okay. I'm not crushed, you can get off me now!" Katara wasn't some damsel in distress Zuko needed to save, no, she was a master waterbender more than capable of protecting herself. She sliped out from under his arms and stood up with a more focused and determined look. Everyone around her was scrambling to get out as Azula and the firenation soldiers closed in on them.  
"We need to go, right now!" Sokka announced pointing at the tunnel Toph had created for them to escape through. But escaping was the last thing on Katara's mind, these people killed her mom and she was going make them pay for it. She leaped off one of the broken walls of the temple and charged towards the airfleet. Sokka and Aang looked up in distress.  
"What is she doing?" Aang asked, still struggled to convince Appa.  
"Being angry and reckless." Zuko said before running after her. He cut through the blazing flames as he tried to reach her.  
Katara was standing on the edge, ripping and freezing the motors of the war balloon. She was slicing the ballons itselves into peices and eventhough she looked like an oneman army she was still heavily out numbered.  
"Katara! You can't fight them all." Zuko shouted as he took cover behind a partially broken wall. Through his peripheral vision he saw Azula charging towards her and Zuko knew Katara was too stubborn to back down from a fight against his sister. He also knew just from the look on Azula's face that she wasn't planning on holding back. He had to do something. He lunged towards Katara grabbing her neck and forcing her to duck. A blast of blue flame galored over their heads. Zuko wrenched her wrist and rushed towards a broken piller to find cover. Blue flame blazed from both of their side. Zuko pulled Katara to his chest to prevent her arm from getting burned as the hid behind a piller that barely guarded both of their bodies. Katara felt the heat of the flames, they were much hotter and probably deadlier that Zuko's.  
"Come on, Zuzu, how long do you think you can hide?"  
They heard Azula taunts echoing from behind them. Zuko clenched his teeth as his sister's fire started eroding the pillar. Katara tried to free herself from his hold and stand up but Zuko didn't let go.  
"What do you think you are doing?" he hissed at her. Fear and concern plagued his features.  
"Fighting your psychotic sister."  
"My psychotic sister is not the only one out there. We are outnumbered. If you go out there they will turn you into ash before you even get the chance to summon the water." Zuko glanced in the Azula's direction. They didn't have too much time left.  
"Go! Get to your brother! I'll hold them off" he almost shoved her towards Sokka and her dad who were looking at them in despair.  
"I'm not running again." she adamantly stated. Zuko could tell Katara sudden determination had to do with something else. Something more personal than her general disdain towards firenation. He wanted to asked but they were running out of time, Azula was getting closer.  
"This is an ambush, Katara, you won't win. But you can ran. Survive. Live to fight another day. Think about your family and RUN!"  
Zuko tentatively stares at Katara praying that she would listen. Thankfully she did. She crawled towards her family as Zuko covered for her. He volted above the pillar firing blasts of flame at his sister. 

__ __ __

Sokka and Aang and Suki and Toph, everyone cheered for Zuko while Katara sat on one side sulking. She had run again. She being the master waterbender that she is, was still wasn't strong enough to face those people. Those people, including her mother's killer who was probably on board of that ship. And she had just let this golden chance slip because of Zuko.  
When Katara got out of her tent in the morning she saw Zuko sitting outside. He looked sleep deprived and awful.  
"You look terrible." she snarled, getting irritated by his face.  
"I waited out here all night."  
"What do you want?" she asked, combing her hair.  
"I know who killed your mother." Katara's eyes widened at Zuko's words "Sokka told me about what happened on that day. He told me about the sea raven insignias on the flags of the raid ships. Is that why you were acting so irrational yesterday.....because you thought your mother's killer was in there?"  
"What do you care, huh?" Katara turned, her eyes starting to tear up now "This has nothing to do with you, right? They all trust you now so why are you so bothered about me?" Katara looked at him with what she thought was utter hatred but Zuko saw beyond that hatred. He saw the hurt, the torment in her eyes, he saw the anger bubbling beneath it. For the longest time, this is exactly how he looked when he stared into the mirror.  
"Because I lost my mother too and I know what it feels like to want closure....to want to make them pay for what they did. I can help you find your mother's killer....if that is what you truly want, if that will give you peace then I'm willing to help you."  
The earnestness in his tone made Katara believe him in spite of herself. 

__ __ __

Zuko woke up from his short nap and saw that Katara was still awake. She hadn't closed her eyes since the morning they had left. Her eyes had heavy bags underneath them but she refused to sleep. They still had to travel a few miles to reach Whale Tail Island so Zuko suggested, almost pleaded  
"You should get some rest we'll be there in a few hours. You will need all your strength." But Katara seemed less that interested in listening to him.  
"Don't you worry about my strength. I have plenty. I am not the helpless little girl anymore....."  
She told him about the raid and what she saw. She told him how her mother died. And somehow listening to her perspective was far more scarier than what Sokka had told him. The feeling of helplessness that came from the inability to protect those you love resonated with him, deeply. Zuko remember about the night his mother disappeared and about what his father told him. He desperately hoped that she was out there somewhere. He wanted to go search for her everyday. But he couldn't. Not yet. Not till the war is over. Once Katara had stopped talking the only thing he could say was  
"She was a brave woman."  
"Yes, she was." Katara touched her necklace to remind her of the sacrifice her mother had made. A long silence followed, then Zuko suddenly spoke  
"My mother also sacrificed herself to save me. I don't know how, I don't know why....I don't know anything. She just said that she was doing it for me." the memories of his mother in a hood, speaking urgently to him came crashing back "Next morning she was gone. No one look for her, no one spoke about her, no one showed any concerns. It was as if she never existed. I still don't know what happened to her."  
Katara turned towards him with a sympathetic look in her eyes. Zuko had seen many strong women before, some were headstrong, some were dangerous, others vicious like his sister but no one was quite like Katara. She was strong and fierce but also kind and generous. She was a lethal blend of dangerous and benevolent. Zuko has never yet seen two such conflicting natures residing in one person before. 

__ __ __

A stunned silence followed them out of the southern raiders ship and towards Yon Rha's village. Katara was so sure of her decision, she knew what she wanted to do but now her mind was foggy. Her own actions had scared her. Though she was angry beyond bounds, she never thought her anger could control her like that. Earlier Zuko had shook off his shock and moved along with the plan. But now the more he thought back to what he saw the more it made his skin crawled.  
"What did you....what were you doing to that man?" he couldn't help but ask. Katara closed her eyes, she knew this question was coming.  
"What do you mean?" she acted dumb to avoid answering that question. But Zuko wasn't going to back down so easily.  
"The pose you did to subdue that man, what was that? I have never seen anything like that before."  
"I.... " Katara hesitated "I was bending the....liquid in his....body."  
"You were bending his....blood." Zuko looked astonished "I didn't even know something like that was possible? That's... "  
Katara closed her eyes again, anticipating Zuko's next words. 'Horrifying, terrible, monstrous' were just some of the words that came into her mind.  
"....incredible." Zuko eventually said and she snapped around  
"Incredible? It's disgusting! Controlling someone else's body is despicable and....I'm a monster for doing so."  
"You are not a monster." Zuko immediately said to stop her from chastising herself "I have seen monsters they don't look like you. And besides bending isn't evil or despicable, benders are. Every type of bending is dangerous in the wrong hands."  
Katara stared at Zuko's eyes they were as earnest and pensive as ever. They didn't have the same fear Sokka and Aang's eyes had when they first saw her bloodbending. Though his words didn't make Katara feel any better about her actions they did warm her heart.

__ __ __

After the confrontation with Yon Rha Katara sat on the wooden dock with her legs dipped inside the water. Zuko stood a few inches behind her unsure what to do or say. He knew asking her if she was ok would be the stupid thing to right now. So he just went and quietly sat beside her. A long, uncertain silence engulfed them before Katara was ready to speak again  
"I couldn't do it." she sounded like she was disappointed with herself "I wanted to but....I just couldn't."  
"That's because you're strong." Zuko kindly offered.  
"You think breaking down in front of my mother's killer was me showing strength."  
"You didn't succumb to your anger....that takes a lot of strength. Strength that most of us don't have." Katara knew he was talking about himself.  
"You'd have done it....if you found out who was behind your mother's disappearance, would you have killed that person?"  
A burning resentment gleamed over Zuko's golden irises. He looked toward the water not wanting Katara to see the ugly look in his eyes.  
"I know who was behind it and I don't think I'm strong enough to stop myself from killing him."  
"Then why haven't you?"  
"If his death wasn't the Avatar's destiny I'd gladly done it by now." his tone was as poisonous as the Viper Scorpio's venom. Suddenly Katara felt thankful that she wasn't alone and that Zuko was the one accompanying her and not anyone else. Yes, everyone in her group had suffered losses, some more than others. But no one understood this particular situation she was in better than Zuko.

__ __ __

Back at the camp they were packing up their stuff and preparing to leave for the Ember Islands. Zuko was helping Katara with her tent when both of them went to grab the same string and their hands met. Zuko tried to hastily remove his hand but Katara held on, tightly.  
"Thank you" she said, softly.  
"For what?" Zuko seemed surprised by her gesture.  
"For....today. For not judging me or telling me what to do. For supporting me and my decisions. For trying to comfort me and.....just for being there. Thank you."  
Zuko just nodded, yet again he was at a loss for words. Katara then let go of his hand and they gathered up all their stuff. They walked towards Appa and though they weren't holding hands anymore, Zuko felt her gentle palm lingering near his.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that this chapter was a little more on the serious side compared to the other light hearted ones. But I thought Zutara need to have a few conversations during that trip.
> 
> Also thank you for the comments, it's good to know that I'm not the only one who thinks my friend sorely lacks a sense of humour.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aang is worried about losing the fight with Ozai and has a nightmare. Katara tries to comfort him and in the process causes Zuko a lot of trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set after the southern raiders.  
> Double updated today since I didn't update in a few days.

The summer sun shined from the east warming their face while the gentle sea breeze tickled over their skins cooling them. The sweat drenched tips of Zuko's dark hair wavered in the breeze as he walked around the courtyard speaking to his pupil  
"Feel the heat of the sun, feel the energy that it gives you. Feel the fire in your belly, feel it burning. Feel it coursing through your veins, flaring up your spirit. And now.....breathe it!"  
On Zuko's command Aang let out a shrill roar that resulted in some smoke and sparks coming out of his mouth.  
"That was pathetic! Beyond disappointing...." Zuko sighed and Katara saw Aang's face flattening.  
"Zuko!" she almost scolded him for his comment.  
"What? Do you want me to lie?" he looked up at her. She was sitting at the front steps of his family's vacation home in Ember Islands and peeling peachapples. She wore her red fire nation clothes today and her skin looked even more tanned from the heat of the sun. Her hair fell off her shoulders, bouncing in the....  
"Ahmm...." a loud clearing of Toph's throat brought Zuko out of his trance. He was a bit ashamed that his eyes lingered on her for that long. Katara glared to her side where Toph was sitting, not that it was of any used, before saying  
"Can't you tell the truth a little more....I don't know, nicely?" she asked and Zuko made a 'o' with his mouth  
"Oh, so you want me to sugar coat it?" before Katara could reply Zuko looked at Aang and said "You're not hot enough, you need more heat inside you to perform the breath of fire."  
"More heat?" Aang's forehead crinkled with worry "I have plenty heat, I promise. In fact see what the heat has done to me." he pointed towards his torso that was covered with sweat from the intense exercise.  
"Evidently it's not enough. Do another 20 push ups! Then we'll try the breath of fire again."  
"I just did 20 push ups 2 minutes ago. Come on, Zuko, can we.... " Aang whined but Zuko cut him off with a sharp warning  
"Avatar, if you are not on the ground doing push ups in the next 10 seconds I will make sure your body hits the ground....and I promise you it won't be in a pleasant manner."  
"It's already not pleasant." Aang grumbled before starting his push ups.

After watching Aang's sorry attempts at push up, Zuko reminded  
"If your chest doesn't touch the ground, it doesn't count"  
"That's not fair I have already done ten push..... "  
"Still 20 push ups to go!" Zuko loudly interrupted Aang's complains.  
"Why don't you show Twinkletoes how to properly do a push up?" Toph suggested after noticing Katara staring a little to keenly at Zuko's sweaty bare torso.  
"I'm sure everyone here would appreciate watching you do push ups." she then added suggestively, catching both Katara and Zuko's attention. And seeing that the only people 'watching' were Toph and Katara, they both knew who that comment was meant for. Katara desperately tried to hide her blush behind the cloth she used to wipe the sweat off her face. She wanted to bark at Toph but knew that that would only encourage her more. While Zuko smiled a little abashedly before turning his attention back to Aang who was now sprawled on the ground after doing 5 real push ups.  
"Get up!" Zuko commanded and Aang cried  
"If I do any more of these I will DIE!"  
"If you don't do it the world will die. Does the end of the world sound better to you, Aang? Does it?!"  
"Okay, I think it's time for a break." Katara came to Aang's rescue again. She extended the plate of peachapples towards him and Aang gratefully accepted, relishing the taste of its sweet, cool juice in his mouth.  
"This is his third break of the morning. You know who won't give him a break....a comet boosted Ozai." Zuko said, reprimanding her for constantly indulging Aang.  
"You don't have to be so hard on him all the time. Besides his firebending is progressing nicely, I don't understand why you are so unhappy with him."  
"What about his other elements? The only thing I ever see him do with his airbending is making that stupid air scooter thing."  
"Hey! It's not stupid. It's what earned me my airbender tattoos." Aang protested but Zuko didn't pay any attention.  
"His go to move in earthbending is throwing boulders and let's be honest....his waterbending isn't that....great either."  
Katara immediately got up, shoving the plate of fruits to Aang's chest.  
"You take that BACK, right now!" she said menacingly and Zuko took a step back but didn't change his statement.  
"I'm not saying that you are a bad teacher I'm just saying that you are not taking this situation seriously enough. I mean the end of the.... "  
"World is at stake. Yes, yes we know." Toph interrupted "We get it Mr. Angsty Pants. You say that so many times that it's honestly exhausting."  
"Yet none of you seem to be listening to me." Zuko raised his hands in defeated then he looked at Toph with dread "Please don't make that a recurring nickname." he requested and she smirked.  
"I know that there's a lot at sake Zuko you don't have to keep reminding me but he is a kid....and he deserves to have some sort of childhood. We all do." Katara looked at him with convincing eyes and Zuko was about to cave and let Aang go when Toph pointed  
"Maybe you two should pause this discussion about what's best for your kid and instead focus your efforts on stopping him from running away."  
Both Katara and Zuko synchronously turned to see Aang fleeing on his air scooter. He was already too far gone for them to try and catch.  
"I swear to the Spirits if that airscooter thing was killable, it would be rotting in its grave right now." Zuko fumed under his breath. "Why is he still running?" he asked Katara and she shrugged  
"He is a 12 year old, Zuko. He is scared and don't exactly play down how dangerous your father is.....give him time he will come around. I have faith in him." she patted Zuko's back and ushered him inside.

Aang did come back in time for lunch though didn't seem completely there. His body was here but his mind was roaming someplace else. Sokka made multiple jokes to lighten his mood but he wasn't his usual playful self today. He even excused himself early, not staying for their after dinner tea. His mood seems to have affected everybody else since no one wanted to stay up late tonight. After only half an hour of sleep Zuko heard a loud bang. He jumped out of his bed and ran outside to see what new danger awaited them. The moment he entered the corridor a gust of wind started pushing him backwards. The wind was so strong that Zuko was having trouble standing his ground. It felt like he was trying to fight a tornado, his defeat was inevitable. Zuko winced when his back hit the wall at the end of the corridor with painful force. He body was struck to the wall rendering him immobile. Soon Katara's door also opened and he cried out a warning as she walked outside.  
"Katara, NO!"  
Before Katara could understand what Zuko meant she felt her legs staggering backwards. She turned to give him a shocked, questioning look as wind send her flying towards him. Zuko raised his arms in a desperate attempt to stop Katara from inevitable crashing onto him. But the only thing his hands did was land on some very unfortunate places on her chest when her body collided against his. Zuko tried to remove his hands that where trapped in an uncomfortable position between their bodies. But Katara's body was pressed so firmly against his that it was almost impossible for them to move. He turned away from her scrutinising eyes in discomfort and embarrassment.  
"Stop blushing and DO something!" Katara gave him a furious look as the wind sped up even more. She was now having a hard time maintaining whatever distance was left between their face.  
"What do you want me to do? Fight the wind?" Zuko asked as Katara's nose and lips started engraving into his cheek. She mumbled something against his cheek but it was too muffle for him to understand.  
"No, no, Get Inside! GET INSIDE!" Zuko shouted when he heard Sokka and Suki's room's door opening. Only one of the watertribe sibling pressed against his body was enough he didn't want two. Unfortunately his warning came a little too late for Toph who had already walked outside. As the wind started blowing them away Sokka grabbed on to Toph with one hand and to the door frame with the other. He held them in place as their clothes and their limbs flapped in the wind.  
"What's going ooooon.... ?" Sokka asked while trying to hold onto Toph's slippery hand. Zuko felt Katara mumbling 'Aang' on his cheek.  
"Aang! It's coming from Aang's room!" Zuko informed.  
"We need to make him stop." Sokka words made Zuko roll his eyes. He said it as if he was giving unknown information.  
"Yeah, no kidding. Only if one of us could get to his room."  
A few minutes later they heard Sokka cheering  
"Yeah, Suki!"  
Zuko could barely see Suki through the corner of his eyes. She had impaled Sokka's space sword on the floor of the corridor and was holding it to brace herself as she made her way towards Aang's room.  
"Wha...happon...ins?" Katara, listening to her brother's cheers, mumbled a question against Zuko's cheek. Her lips moving and her words vibrating on his face made unwanted things happen to him. Not to mention her chest that was still firmly pressed against his hands. Zuko was not in the right state of mind to talk right now. His entire focus, for the time being, was on self control.  
"Aang! Wake up!" Suki shouted, struggling to maintain her balance against the furious wind. Next time she screamed everyone screamed in union with her.  
"AANG!!!!"  
After third united scream, Aang finally woke up and subsequently they all fell to the floor with loud thuds. Suki sat down on the floor still holding the sword handle and panting. Sokka ran to kiss her on the cheek and Toph leaned on the wall trying to catch her breath. First thing Zuko did once he fell down was removed his hand as far away from Katara's body as he possibly could. Katara on the other hand didn't move, she remained practically sitting on Zuko's lap while breathing heavily. Zuko's cheek had been suffocating her until now, now she could finally take a deep breath.  
"What's going on, guys?" Aang innocently asked, unaware of the nuisance he had just cause. Then his eyes fell on his room's door which had been violently uprooted from the door frame.  
"Did I do that?" he asked eyeing the door. Then he looked at the weary faces of this friends and panicked "Did I do this to you guys? WHAT DID I DO?"  
"You started an indoor storm. Explained yourself!" Zuko demanded while raising an accusing finger. Katara swatted his finger away and glared at him for his appalling tone. As she glared she realised how close they truly were and she immediately stumbled away.  
"Aang, what happened? What's going on with you?" Katara asked breathlessly.

"I don't know....I just....I saw a bad dream and then....then you all were screaming my name and I don't know what happened." Aang stammered, afraid and apologetic.  
"You're seeing nightmares, again?" Sokka's eyes bulged out of his socket as he slapped his palm on his forehead.  
"Again? What do you mean again? How many times has this happened?" Zuko stared at everyone and Katara shrugged  
"It happened once before the invasion" she walked towards Aang and softly asked "What's on your mind, Aang? Talk to me, I can help."  
"Just....after this morning I was thinking, what if I learn all the elements and still lose? I mean there's no guarantee I will win, right?"  
"You are the Avatar, Aang. You will win. I know it." Katara reassuringly said and Aang shook his head in annoyance.  
"You don't KNOW anything. None of us know what will happen in the future. I lost during the invasion. What is to say I won't lose during the comet?"  
Katara looked clueless on what to say next. Aang was the most positive person among them and now he was having doubts which made her think of all the bad things that could happen. She quietened, finding herself unable to answer Aang's question. Then all of a sudden Zuko stepped in to aid her.  
"You can't think like that." Everyone turned towards him in surprise.  
"We're all here, risking our life everyday because we believe in you. We have left our homes, our families behind to be here with you....to help you because we have faith in you." he said recalling Katara's words from earlier this morning "So you can't just stop believing in yourself. If we are going to win this war you need to have faith in your abilities"  
A silence followed as everyone tried to digest what they had just heard. Zuko saying positive encouraging words isn't exactly an event that happened every day. After a few minutes Zuko felt Sokka patting his shoulders  
"Nice speech, man." he said and Toph chimed in  
"Yeah, Sparky, didn't think you had it in you"  
Katara saw Aang visibility relaxed and cheered up a little at Zuko's words. She also mouthed him a 'thank you' and he smiled that adorable Zuko smile that always seemed to appear on his lips whenever someone said something nice to him.  
"Okay, let's see what we can do about your door so that we all can go back to sleep." Zuko picked up Aang's broken door and tried to fix it back on the door frame but Aang stopped him midway  
"Don't bother. I'm not going to sleep again. There is no telling what I might do if I have another nightmare."  
"You can't just not sleep, we have practice early tomorrow morning. The last thing we need is a sleep-deprived Avatar." Zuko looked at Katara for support. But instead of Katara Sokka came to his support  
"Yeah, Aang don't you remember what happened the last time you didn't sleep for days? You were talking to Momo and fighting a tree. We can't deal with that again what if...."  
"I have an idea!" Katara interrupted Sokka "How about all of us take turns at keeping a watch on you? That way if you see a nightmare we'll wake you up before anything bad happens." she suggested and Aang nodded agreeingly. Zuko's eyes widened in shock  
"This is a joke, right? You don't actually expect me to sleep with him." Katara seemed amused by his reaction  
"This is absolutely not a joke. In fact you know what, you should take first watch." Zuko's jaw dropped as Katara and the rest casually walked towards their rooms leaving Aang with him.

Sitting at the foot of the Avatar's bed Zuko yet again found himself asking 'how has this become my life?'. After a minute or two of massaging own head he saw Aang tugging at his tunic.  
"Zuko, I can't sleep."  
"What am I supposed to do about that?" Zuko was beyond irritated and the lack of sleep wasn't helping.  
"Tell me a story." Aang requested with puppy eyes but he flat out refused.  
"I'm not doing that."  
"But Katara always does it." Aang gave a expectant look and Zuko rolled his eyes. Not only was he expected to keep an eye on him he was also supposed to cooed him to sleep.  
"Well, I'm not Katara." But Aang didn't give up so easy he kept whining till Zuko reached his tolerance threshold.  
"You want to hear a story? I'll tell you a story....once upon a time there was a very annoying little Avatar who met an unceremonious and untime end in the hands of firebending master for annoying him too much. The end"  
Aang gulped once after Zuko finished his 'story' then he quietly asked  
"Does this story have a happy ending?"  
"Yeah, an ending where his master gets to sleep peacefully in his own room."  
"Katara!" Aang suddenly yelped when he saw Katara coming out of her room going towards the bathroom  
"What's wrong?" she came to his room instead, with a worried expression.  
"Can you stay here for a while?"  
"Why? what did Zuko do now?" she asked as she sat beside Aang and stared at Zuko.  
"He tells the worst stories. Can you tell me a story?" Aang now gave her the puppy eyes and Katara settled down on the bed.  
"Great" Zuko sighed then he saw Toph also standing at the door frame and asked "What are you doing here?"  
"It's time for my watch." she dismissively said then looked at Katara "Are we telling scary stories again? Because I have a few."  
Before Katara could answer Sokka and Suki busted into the room.  
"Seriously guys, you are having a moment without me again?"  
They all settled inside the small room and Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose, harder. 'Seriously, how is THIS his life?", before he could even think that thought through Momo flew in through the window and cuddled next to his leg.  
"Who's left?" Zuko rhetorically asked "Should we call Appa too?"  
Aang perked up from the bed, taking his words seriously and he could only slap his palms on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally thought about writing only 10 chapters but now I have a ton of ideas about atleast 5 more chapters. So please let me know if guys want me to keep reading more of these missing scenes.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Suki challenges Zuko to a duel and Sokka and Katara get jealous watching them playfully fighting and talking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set before ember island players.

Loud laughter emitted out of the courtyard of the Firelord's vacation home as Zuko once again ran after Sokka with his swords. Zuko has been running after him all afternoon, trying to catch him and make him stand in one place so that they can have their sword duel, Sokka had challenged him to. But Sokka didn't seem to be in a mood to slow down. A panting Zuko chased him from the courtyard to the garden to the front steps to the fountain. Another series of laughs follow as Sokka tries to balance himself on top of the fountain and Zuko barks at him to get down. After another while of running around Zuko finally gave up. He was done chasing after members of the team Avatar even if it meant he had to disrespect the mandates of a duel. He sheathed his Dao swords and grabbed his knees to lean down and catch his breath. As he exhaled he heard the faintest clanking of a sword and then sneaky footsteps. Once the noise was close enough Zuko raised his elbow and hit Sokka straight across his jaw. Then he yanked Sokka's wrist and pulled his space sword out of it. Zuko threw the sword on one side and Sokka on the other.  
"Did you really think that was going to work?" Zuko looked down at Sokka while rolling his eyes. Sokka, still sitting on the ground, recovering from Zuko's hit asked  
"Best out of three?" Zuko had to admire his bravado but ended up dismissively refusing his offer.  
"Absolutely not. Sword fighting with you is like chasing after a kid who thinks he can outsmart or outrun me, which evidently you can do neither of." he gesturing to Sokka who was still on the ground. Zuko then lent a hand to help him get up before going to get his shirt and towel. Suki, Toph, Aang and Momo huffed, disappointed that the show was over. Zuko walked inside the house and bumped into Katara who was rushing out of the house. He stumbled backwards, wanting to stay as far away from Katara's torso as possible. After their last incident he had been mindful to not go anywhere near her body. She observed his odd reaction for a minute, then dishearteningly asked  
"You guys done with the duel already?" Katara wanted to watch Zuko fight but cleaning up after lunch took her longer than she had thought.  
"Yeah, I mean....no offence but fighting your brother is like chasing after a kid. And I have been doing that a lot these few days....kinda getting tired of it now"  
"Yeah tell me about it." Katara gave him a knowing, exhausted smile before walking outside to join the others. In the courtyard Aang and Momo were having a flying competition while Suki and Toph relaxed on the steps. Katara sat down next to them and Suki noticed the frown on her face.  
"Upset you didn't get to see Zuko shirtless today?" she asked, nudging Katara's shoulder. Toph snickered from the side as Katara gave an incredulous look.  
"What! No!" she denied but realized that Suki wasn't buying it "Fine. But don't act like you don't enjoy watching him too." she resorted and Suki shrugged  
"No. I do enjoy it and I'm not ashamed to admit it. I love your brother and all...." she said, eyeing Sokka who was currently waving his space sword in the air "...but that man has a very impressive built."  
Katara smiled at Suki's shear confidence, she wished she had the confidence to confess something that embarrassing.  
"Ugh..." Toph groaned "You girls always talking about boys....it's disgusting."  
"We don't ALWAYS talk about boys, we do other things too." Suki protested then turned towards Katara with a I-have-an-idea look."You know what I'll do you a favor....a thank you for all the hard work you do around here" she said before calling "Zuko!"  
"What?" Zuko asked, poking his head out of the door.  
"I challenge you to a sword duel! A real one this time." Suki announced, making Sokka turn around. Both Katara and Zuko's features perked up, though for different reasons. Zuko quickly grabbed his Dao swords and walked out to the courtyard while Suki went to get Sokka's sword.

Zuko flipped his swords in his hands as he got ready to fight. While Suki took her signature Kyoshi warrior stance, though she was missing her fan. She stood in a defensive position asking Zuko to attack, which he cordially accepted. He leaped forward with both swords but they couldn't break through Suki's strong defence. The Daos landed on her sword with full force and she redirected that force, sending Zuko stumbling backwards. But Zuko wasn't angered by this in fact he grinned, impressed by Suki. He finally had some real competition. This time he charged more carefully, flawlessly swinging his Daos together in harmony. Zuko alternated between attack and defence and Suki met him beat per beat. Soon enough clanking of swords and cheering filled the courtyard. Aang cheered as the duel started to get heated but not as enthusiastically as Sokka and Katara who frankly seemed a little too excited. When Suki came to attack Zuko skidded underneath her arm and kicked the back of her left knee making her trip a little. While she tried to maintain her balance Zuko used his swords to practically pluck the space sword out of her hand. Zuko grinned smugly while Sokka booed and Katara noted with intrigue that for a firebender Zuko's movements were extremely fluid and flexible, which seemed to have excited her even more for some reason. Now disarmed, Suki took a few steps back and smirked before charge towards Zuko. Zuko was at first confused by Suki's actions, 'she had no weapon, why is she charging at me?' he thought but nevertheless took his usual stance. But Suki instead of attacking used his shoulders and the momentum from her run to jump above his head and kick his heels from behind. He realized the meaning behind that smirk as he fell to his knees, grunting. Suki then gave a really hard punch just below his neck earning a lot of 'uffs' from the crowd. She kick one of the Dao swords out of his hand but as she went to do the same with the other sword Zuko grabbed her ankle. He pushed her away with force and Suki's back hit the ground hard. As they got up on their feets they both gave each other a 'well-done' nod before taking their respective stances again. 

The next round started and Zuko observed that Suki fought better without the sword. She blocked each one of his blows with ease and her counter attacks were also stronger. He, however, felt that the loss of one of his twin Daos had hindered his skills. Though he wasn't willing to accept defeat. They continued sparing till both of them were panting and the crowd had calmed down, now they were quietly watching with intent.  
"Wanna call it a draw?" Suki asked, breathlessly.  
"I can keep going if you want to." Zuko casually answered eventhough his breath was staggering. After another while of moves and counter moves they both pause again to catch their breath.  
"You have quite an impressive stamina, prince Zuko. How much longer do you think it'll last?" Suki teased with a smirk.  
"If you only knew my greatest feat, you wouldn't be asking that question." Zuko smirked back. He was obviously talking about his feat in the north pole but the tone with which the words came out was a little too sexualized. It might have to do something with his heavy panting and hoarse voice. Both Sokka and Katara stared at them with wide eyes. Katara leaned slightly towards her brother's ear to ask  
"Are they.....fl-flirting?" Sokka looked extremely alarmed by his sister's question. He watched Suki as she charged again, delivering 3 quick consecutive punches on Zuko's stomach and chest. Though a groaning Zuko caught Suki's arms before the fourth punch, it was already too late he was already falling down. As a last-ditch attempt Zuko twisted Suki's arms and kicked on her heels, knocking her down with him. They both ultimately fell on the ground together, Suki turned towards him and huffed  
"Done?"  
"Done." he nodded and with that the duel ended. Aang and Toph clapped while Sokka and Katara sighed in relief. 

Once Zuko and Suki had caught their breaths they stood up. They complemented each others and discussed a few particular moves.  
"How did you do that jump?" Zuko gestured above his head, curiously "I mean that was a....Ty Lee standard jump. No many can do that." Suki proudly smiled before explaining  
"See once you gain the momentum you just have to grabbed onto something..." she grabbed onto Zuko's shoulders to demonstrate "and leap backwards....but remember to aim your heels at your's and your opponent's head, that way you won't trip."  
Zuko just made a 'huh' noise as he took in the advice. Now it was Suki's turn to asked a few questions  
"You know, I never get disbalanced from a kick on my legs. How did you do that?"  
"Oh, it's pretty easy really, you have to kick them here." Zuko touched the skin on the back of Suki's knees "This is delicate skin, a very vulnerable spot. No matter how strong someone's stance is they will fall down if you hit it hard enough."  
Sokka and Katara watched them gushing over each other's fighting styles with horrified and panicked expressions. Neither of the siblings appreciated the gushing and they most certainly did NOT appreciate the touching. Sokka had valid reasons for behaving this way about his girlfriend. Katara, on the other hand, didn't know why she was acting like this. She just felt oddly possessive about Zuko and didn't feel the need to explain it to herself or anyone else. They sat on the steps clenched their jaws and gritting their teeths as this, whatever this was between Zuko and Suki continued.  
"How do you use these?" Suki asked, turning the Daos in her hand.  
"Here I'll show you." Zuko said before guiding Suki's hands to hold the swords properly. Katara stood up with a disturbed scrunched up expression as Zuko settled behind Suki, fixing her right leg's position with his knee and showing her how to move the Dao swords.  
"They move in harmony....like they're one sword...." Zuko's instructions were suddenly interrupted by a loud shriek.  
"Ah! That's it!" Zuko turned toward the sound and saw Sokka walking towards Suki. He stood between his girlfriend and Zuko and firmly stated "That's it. That's enough for today. Playtime's over, we all have work to do."  
"Yeah, yeah....Zuko and I need to get started on dinner." Katara supported her brother to put a stop to this.  
"Dinner, already? We ate lunch like two hours ago." Zuko looked at them in confusion.  
"Two hours is a long time!" Katara retorted and Sokka joined her  
"Yeah, it's very long. I say it's too long. I'm already hungry."  
Before anyone could protest any further Katara grabbed Zuko's hand and pulled him inside while Sokka escorted Suki safely to their room. Aang looked utterly puzzled by everyone behaviours  
"What was that all about?" he asked Toph once everybody was gone.  
"That, my friend, was all about the green-eyed monster called jealousy." Toph imparted knowingly but it only managed to confuse Aang even more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter I will update for the time being. Please LET ME KNOW if guys want more of these missing scenes. I will write more then.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was supposed to be Zuko and Suki teaching Sokka sword fighting but ended up being just a lot of Zutara banter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set directly after the last chapter.

Katara sat at the dinner table stitching her torn blue watertribe skirt. She had worn it down so much during their travels that she was actually surprised the fabric hasn't yet disintegrated. She was so focused on patching the holes on her skirt that she didn't hear someone coming down the stairs. When a few drops of water fell on Katara's shoulder she realised someone was standing directly behind her. Startled, she jumped up from her chair and summoned the water from the jug to fight them.  
"I surrender." Zuko said, raising his hands playfully and Katara swirled the water back into the jug.  
"You scared me." she punched his arm but it barely did anything to him. In fact hitting his biceps might have slightly hurt Katara's knuckles. She sat down on her chair again and Zuko leaned over her shoulder.  
"How was I supposed to know you were this engrossed in stitching?" he shrugged, eyeing her newly patched up skirt. A few more drops of water fell on Katara's shoulder making her look up.  
"You showered?" she asked, noticing his damped hair. 'Zuko doesn't usually shower after lunch' she thought then she found herself asking 'why do I know that?'.  
"Yeah, I was sweaty." Zuko said before sitting down beside her. 'I like you sweaty' Katara thought but thankfully didn't say it out loud. She saw Zuko's lips moving though she couldn't pay attention to what he was saying. Her eyes were transfixed on the trail of water that trickled down from the tips of his hair to his nose then his chin and his neck and then his chest before disappearing behind his tunic. 'Ugh...that annoying tunic', she cursed his tunic in her mind.  
"Who's tunic?" Zuko's words jarred her back to reality.  
"What?" Katara asked, thinking 'I did not say that out loud. DID I SAY THAT OUT LOUD!?!'  
"Who's tunic is annoying?" Zuko asked again and Katara panicked  
"Mine!" she said, abruptly "My....my tunic is annoying. It's tight and itchy and annoying."  
"Right...." Zuko gave suspicion yet amused look before asking "So should we get started on dinner?"  
Katara squinted to look at the clock, it was only 4 o'clock in the noon, they still had three solid hours go before Sokka started whining about dinner.  
"It's still early." Katara said dismissively and Zuko raised his brows.  
"Wait, I thought you said two hours between meals was a long time. Beside we were cooking dinner at 3 yesterday."  
Katara looked away, blushing in embarrassment as his words reminded her of how weirdly possessive and jealous she was acting yesterday.  
"Sorry, but I had to say that." Zuko had a wide grin on his face "You were acting so proprietorial yesterday I just couldn't help myself."  
Katara could tell from his expression that he was enjoying teasing her a little too much.  
"I don't always behave like that." she declared but Zuko instantly shook his head  
"You do. You get angry everytime Aang tries to impress another girl or Toph does something reckless without telling you....you even got pissed off when you thought I was trying to take your place as the mom of this group. And now I know you get that way when I try to teach other girls how to fight."  
Katara was ready to protest but before she could say anything he added "And I think it's kinda cute. You see us as your family and therefore get a little insecure when someone else takes your place."  
Katara was caught off guard by Zuko's comment. She found it oddly comforting that he found something that everyone saw as a character flaw, cute. After a minute or two of silence Zuko spoke again, this time with a more serious tone  
"Whatever it is that you got worked up about yesterday....you know it's not like that, right? Whatever you saw.....whatever I have with Suki it's purely platonic. I mean I'd never, um....not with your brother's girlfriend of all people...." he fingers fiddled nervously and his awkward reassurance made Katara smile fondly. He looked like a lost boy, in desperate need of guidance.  
"I know." Katara finally interrupted and Zuko let out a sigh of relief, thankful that she had made him stop.  
"But you should probably tell Sokka that, though. He needs the reassuring more than me."  
"I will...." Zuko gave a sly look then said "...eventually."  
"You so evil, Prince Zuko." Katara playfully nudged his shoulders.  
"After the amount of running he made me do yesterday he deserves to suffer." 

They continued having a nice playfully conversation till around six when everyone started coming downstairs. Zuko made tea for them then he and Katara started making dinner.  
"What do you need?" Zuko asked, entering the kitchen.  
"Can you get started on making the dough for the bread? And also could you please boil the water for the vegetables." Katara instructed and Zuko went to put the water on boil.  
"You know, I liked it better when you ordered me around instead of requesting me to do things." Zuko suddenly remarked making Katara paused her vegetable cutting to look up at him with a cheeky smile.  
"I can still do that." she said, giving him a faux glare "Start kneading the dough firebender or we are going to have serious problem."  
Though she couldn't stop a smile from appearing on her lips when he pretended to be afraid before he went to grab the flour. By 7 they had almost finished cooking, Zuko was poking the vegetables with the ladle to make sure they were cooked through. While Katara was purifying the water in the pitcher with her bending. As she put the pitcher, now full of drinking water, down on the counter she noted that things always seem easier and less draining when they worked together. After a month of having Zuko around to help her, she honestly now wondered how she had managed to do so much work alone for all that time.  
"Dinner!" Zuko called as they arranged the food on the dining table. Katara realised how much she had missed having actual furniture as she sat down on the chair to eat with everyone. She liked camping outdoors with the group but honestly, it was nothing compared to having indoor plumbing and a bed. While they had dinner Zuko, Aang and Suki conversed about their respective trainings.  
"Kyoshi warrior training starts pretty early....like when you are 8 you are already recruited." Suki informed between bites "Most of the training is about defecting and redirecting attacks. It's took me about 4 years to perfect fighting techniques with the fans....after that learning sword fighting wasn't that difficult. How long did it take you?"  
"Which one? Sword fighting or firebending?" Zuko asked as he served himself and Toph.  
"Both."  
"Well, as a child I was always attracted to swords so it didn't take me to learn."  
"As a child?" Katara gave him a incredulous look then thoughtfully said "You know what, never mind. Little Zuko liking swords somehow makes perfect sense." she waved at Zuko to continue and he did  
"Firebending on the other hand...." he trailed of sighing "My father said that they weren't sure if I was a bender. Apparently I wasn't born with the spark in my eyes that firebenders usually had. My bending abilities didn't show up till late in my childhood and even when they did I had a hard time learning just the basics. In fact I was still learning the basics until like a year ago....when I chasing after you guys."  
Once Zuko finished speaking Katara noticed the sudden sadness that had appeared behind his eyes. His voice and expression had also become grimmer now. Fortunately Katara wasn't the only one who noticed since she heard Toph saying  
"And now a year later you're the firebending master of the Avatar."  
The adorable Zuko smile made an appearance again.  
"Yeah, it's been a crazy year." he exhaled "So what about you? How long did it take you to become the greatest earthbender in the world?"  
"Earthbending wasn't the hard part developing the seismic sense was. Once I was able see with my bending and I got an idea of where everything was, bending just came naturally to me." Toph casually shrugged like it was nothing.  
"And Miss Prodigy what about you?"  
Everyone turned towards Katara who blushed abashedly but ended up smugly answering  
"A few months."  
Everyone around the table mockingly let out astonished gasps and Katara just laughed. Although Sokka wasn't joining in today, he seemed rather distracted and down through out the dinner. While everyone else talked about their training and their skills Sokka just stared at the his food, blankly. 

After dinner as Katara and Zuko did the dishes they heard Sokka's voice coming from the sitting area  
"Guys, I have been thinking and I just realised something."  
"Oh, he has been thinking. This should be good." Zuko whispered to Katara who tried to suppress a chuckle and focus on what her brother was saying  
"After hearing you all talk about your trainings I kinda realised that I'm not that good of a fighter."  
"He just realised that?" Zuko leaned towards Katara to mutter. She seemed just as surprised as him.  
"I mean I learned a lot from master Piandao but I only got few days with him. And I know that I'm the brains of this group but I also need to learn how to fight if we're going up against the Firelord and his forces."  
"So what are you saying? Do you wanna go back to train with master Piandao?" Suki asked, mildly concerned about her boyfriend's feeling of inadequacy.  
"No I'm saying that I want you to teach me." Sokka earnestly stated and Suki's face lit up.  
"I want you and....Zuko to teach me. I saw you guys fighting yesterday and as much as I don't ever want to see that again I realised....again what amazing warriors you two are. So what do you say? Will you...."  
Before Sokka could continue Suki flung her arms around him and kissed him deeply while everyone else reflexively looked away.  
"Yes, of course I will teach you." Suki said after breaking apart from the kiss. Both of them expectantly stared at Zuko who contemplatively asked  
"If I say yes will I have to follow the same accepting procedure as Suki?"  
Katara hit Zuko for asking that while Sokka pretended to barf.  
"Don't worry, bade, we'll teach you everything we know." Suki reassured, patting Sokka on the back. Zuko and Katara raised their brows and exchange a look before synchronously teasing  
"Yeah, babe...."  
"Hey, hey, don't destroy babe for me. It's a very.... Intimate word for us." Sokka sneered and Toph raised her arm  
"Please don't go into any further details." 

Next morning Sokka training started and for the first hour it was the usual Zuko shouting from Sokka to do better and Suki kicking Sokka's butt everytime he tried to fight her. After a few hours Katara brought some refreshments and saw Suki and Zuko leaning on either sides the door frame discussing their student.  
"He has a very different approach to fighting, doesn't he?" Zuko asked, narrowing his eyes at Sokka who was currently waving his sword in the air as he ran after a flying Momo.  
"Yes, he has...an uniquely....unorthodox method." Suki softly chuckle as she spoke.  
"That's one way to describe it but I prefer the word clinically insane to describe his 'method'."  
It was hard to tell if Zuko was joking but Suki laughed either ways. Then they heard Sokka let out a war cry and Zuko shook his head in disbelief.  
"Where do you reckon he is on the scale of sanity? Cause I think I might be endangering the sane society by teaching him sword fighting." Zuko glanced, worriedly at Suki but she just laughed it off.  
"On the scale of harmless goofball to mad scientist Sokka is somewhere in the middle...so you have nothing to worry about it."  
Katara felt a pang of envy coursed though her when she saw Suki reassuringly patting Zuko's back. 'What is wrong with me? She is my friend and my brother's girlfriend' Katara though to herself. She felt like a horrible person for feeling this way. She promptly put down the refreshments on the table and went to the bathroom to wash off this inexplicable jealousy she kept feeling. After having a nice long shower Katara went to the balcony and she saw Zuko in the courtyard intensity showing Sokka some moves with a wooden sword as Sokka half-heartedly watched him while making heart-eyes at Suki. She smiled knowing where today's training was going. By the time Katara came downstairs Zuko was already coming inside the house.  
"Training over?" she asked, startling him.  
"Oh, that training?" he looked up at her "That training really quickly turned into an inappropriate touching and giggling....I felt very unwelcomed."  
"I wonder why." Katara laughed heartily, shaking her head. As she did so she noted proudly that Zuko eyes lingered on her wet partially towel covered hair a little too long.  
"Why do you need to dry your hair? Can't you just....I don't know, bend the water out?" he gestured at her towel.  
"Yeah, but I like my wet hair....it's cooling." she said as she pulled the towel out of her hair and she shook her head making her hair toss around. This time Zuko stared longer, some of the water from her hair landed on his face bringing him back to reality.  
"I s-should....go." he hurried towards the stairs.  
"Yeah, yeah..." she tried to make way for him. But ended up walking in the same direction as him and almost bumping into each other.  
"Sorry...." apologising, Zuko turned towards the other side. At the same time Katara also turned to the same side and again almost bumped into each other.  
"Just stay still." Zuko said, grabbing her arms to hold her in place. Katara flinched, not expecting the contact. His hands were unusually warm and his fingers tips were rugged but his palm was soft. Before Katara could decipher anything else about his hands Zuko abruptly removed them as he practically ran away from her.  
"You lot REALLY need to stop." Toph's voice suddenly came from beside the door frightening Katara "You all have made this house a hormonal hazard. I can't go out there because of those two, I can't stay in here because of you two. Where am I supposed to go?!" she waved her hand exasperatedly to make her point but Katara wasn't paying attention to her complains. She just stood still for a moment tracing the skin on her arms that Zuko had held.


	12. When you've the worst cramps having a Zuko always helps. -  Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara gets the worst period cramps she has ever had. Thankfully Zuko is there to take care of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set before ember island players.  
> It's written from Zuko's pov...mostly.

Clumps of wet sand accumulated between Zuko's toes as his feet landed on the beach repeatedly with loud flapping noises. In the horizon soft yellow tints painted the mostly dark blue sky. Zuko felt the bright rays energising him while the cool breeze calmed him. He briefly stopped running to watch the sun rising. He liked feeling the power of the sun's heat, it gave him a sense of control in his otherwise out of control life. Zuko started running again, he woke up early today so he'd been running for a while now. But then again he woke up early everyday. Good night's sleep wasn't a thing he was very familiar with, too many indecisive thoughts, nightmarish memories and regrets plagued his mind for him to sleep peacefully. Running, on the other hand, cleared his mind, calmed his turmoil. And he had surplus turmoil that needed to be calmed so Zuko kept running and running till his legs gave up. He slumped down on the beach, massaging his legs. After a bit of rest and a pleasant swim, around 7:30 Zuko headed homewards. As he reached the perimeter of the house he saw three very familiar figures sneakily escaping through the courtyard. They were paying so much attention to the front door that they didn't even notice Zuko standing directly in their ways and ended up bumping into him.  
"AHH!!" Sokka and Aang let out a hush scream while Toph waved at him. She was the only one who had noticed him and didn't bump into him.  
"What are you all doing?" Zuko asked with a so-done-with-this-shit face. Sokka hurriedly put his hands on Zuko's mouth, shushing him.  
"We are escaping....I suggest you come with us." Sokka advised in a hush voice. Zuko swatted Sokka's hands away before asking  
"Escaping from what exactly?"  
"Katara." Aang sadly informed and Zuko raised an eyebrow but before he could ask he heard a shrill shriek ringing out of the house  
"SOKKA! AANG! I swear if you don't come back RIGHT NOW!!!"  
All of them flinched and Toph covered her ears as Katara continued screaming.  
"She is crankier than usual." Sokka regretfully shook his head and Zuko gave him a questioning look  
"Why is she....cranky?"  
"You know...." Sokka hesitated then very briefly explained "...ladies issues."  
Zuko nodded understandingly then a shadow of concern crossed his face  
"Did any of you try to help her?" Zuko asked in a slightly chastising tone and Sokka frowned  
"There's not much we can do to help. I mean Suki is in there with her but...."  
Sokka was interrupted by another one of Katara shrieks  
"I swear on the spirits I will DESTROY your space sword, SOKKA!! And your glider, AANG!!"  
"We have to go back for my glider." Aang cried and Sokka joined in  
"And my space sword."  
"If you go back in there she will destroy you both instead of your materialistic loves." Toph warned, stopping them both with a hand on their chest. "We need to get out of here if we want to live."  
Both the boys agreeing then Toph turned towards Zuko who was staring at the house with a gravely concerned look  
"Sparky, you coming?"  
Zuko quickly shook his head in response.  
"You guys go ahead, I'm good."  
As Zuko walked towards the house he heard Toph faintly muttering  
"Well, if you want to commit suicide....go right ahead I guess."

The moment Zuko entered through the front door he was greeted with a stark warning and a glare  
"I THOUGHT I TOLD YOU...." Katara started but stopped when she realized that it was Zuko and not her brother or the Avatar "Oh...it's just Zuko." she sighed as she continued pacing around the room. Zuko cautiously glanced at Katara, scrutinizing her while also standing at a safe distance away from her. He noticed that her hands were tightly holding onto her lower stomach and she looked exasperated with her face all scrunched up. From her expression Zuko could only guess that she was both extremely angry and incredibly in pain.  
"Katara, is your stomach hurting?" Zuko very carefully asked.  
"No!" Katara stated adamantly then her voice abruptly turned into a quiet sob "Yes..." she said shakily.  
"Do you wanna sit down?" he gently pointed toward the couch so as to not push any of her buttons. Katara reluctantly sat down and from out of nowhere Suki emerged from the kitchen.  
"Here drink some water. It will help." Suki recommended handing Katara a glass of water which Katara, quite violently, placed on the table with a loud bang.  
"I have drank at least 10 glasses of water since the morning....I don't want to DRINK anymore WATER! What I want is for Sokka and Aang to come back and WASH THEIR DIRTY UNDERWEARS. That is what I WANT!!"  
Both Suki and Zuko's eyes widened as they slowly inches away from Katara. After a minute or two of ranting Katara breathed heavily then let out a grunt whilst clinched onto her stomach.  
"I can help." Zuko's voice sounded almost desperate as if it physically pained him to see her in pain.  
"Are you gonna also tell me to drink water?" Katara sneered and Suki gave her an offended look.  
"Sorry, Suki, I know you are just trying to help. I am just....really irritated." Katara apologized as she stared expectantly at Zuko.  
"Move your hands." Zuko requested before kneeling down in front of her legs. He moved his hands to replace Katara's on her lower stomach. He didn't touch her though, his palms just hovered over the belt of her skirt. At first Katara was absolutely confused and a little annoyed but then she felt the warmth that radiated off his skin and rippled into her's. She felt that warmth almost instantly relaxing her cramps. The knot, in her lower stomach, that has been causing her so much suffering from the morning slowly loosened making her feel more or less euphoric. Katara sighed in relief as she let her head fall back and her shoulders slump down. To Zuko that sigh almost sounded like a moan, his hands trembled slightly. Through the corner of her eyes Katara caught the extremely uncomfortable look on his face. Zuko being uncomfortable was understandable of course especially considering the immensely awkward position they were in, with Zuko kneeling right in front of her. But Katara couldn't conjure up the will to do the decent thing and ask him to stop, not right now when his warmth radiating hands felt so gooood. Her excruciating aches had turned into soft prickles underneath his palms and she just didn't want him to stop. But like all good things this also came to an end when Zuko abruptly and cruelly removed his hands making Katara whine, miserably.  
"Sorry but I can't stay like that for long. My knees are starting to hurt." Zuko explained as he stumbled backwards to sit on the floor. In response Katara snarled  
"Oh, really? Please tell me more about the immense pain you're in."  
By this point Zuko was well aware of Katara's tendency to be rude and hurtful when she was suffering so instead of getting upset he requested/ordered Suki  
"Can you fill a leather canteen up with water and bring it to me?"  
Suki nodded before complying. He took the canteen and pressed it between his hands to heat the water inside, then he handed it to Katara.  
"Put this on your stomach while I make you some food and tea."  
With a deep frown on her face Katara took the canteen and placed it on the most aching area of her stomach. It was relieving the pain but it wasn't doing it as effective as Zuko's hands.

As Zuko started making breakfast he heard Suki's hush voice coming from behind him.  
"So what's the plan? How are we going to deal with that?" she tilted her head towards the sitting room to gesture towards a scowling Katara.  
"I was just thinking of making her some calming tea." Zuko simply said and Suki gave him an are-you-an-idiot look.  
"Calming tea? Have you seen her? The tranquilizer they use on elephanthippo can't calm her."  
"You look as agitated as her. Why don't you sit down and drink a glass of water and let me handle this." Zuko gestured towards a chair as he put on the kettle to tea and grabbed a glass of water for Suki.  
"Don't give my own advice back to me." Suki restored before snatching the glass from his hand and drinking it, furiously.  
"Ufff...she is insufferable. I love her but spirits" Suki complained, quietly once she had finished drinking. But Zuko just shrugged in response  
"Well, she's hurting....people tend to get that way when they're hurting."  
Suki watched him passively make tea and breakfast for Katara and wondered how the guy with severe anger issues was so patient and she was losing her mind.  
"How are you so calm, suddenly? You're usually the quickest to get angry and annoyed. But then again you seem to have unlimited patience when it comes to Katara."  
"It's not just for Katara." Zuko chided "If it were you instead of her I'd be the same way."  
"Yeah, right." Suki gave him an unconvinced look "Well, lucky for you I'd never get this way. I mean I get a little cranky but she is just going straight up crazy."  
Zuko snapped his head around to look at Suki as if he had just uncovered the secrets of this world.  
"Has Katara ever behaved like this before?"  
"How am I supposed to know. I became a permanent member of this team after you so...."  
Zuko didn't wait for Suki to finish talking, he went outside to ask Katara herself.  
"This question is going to sound stupid but need you to answer me without getting angry." Zuko said as he carefully approached her "How much pain are you in?"  
Katara turned an aggravated face towards Zuko to give him an incredulous look before sternly stating  
"Excruciating amounts....it feels like someone's stabbing me...repeatedly."  
Zuko nodded then inquired further  
"Have you ever experienced this type of pain before?"  
"I mean I have had these aches before but nothing that I could walk off....this time it's...." Katara paused to grunt again then cried out "it's just soooo... much... more... PAINFUL!"  
"Okay, okay." Zuko soothed a rather agitated Katara "It's because of the stress. You're extra tense therefore your muscles are also tense and that's what's making it harder to....you know....it's...restricting the flow, in a manner of speaking I guess...."  
Zuko spoke so knowingly that it weirded-out both Katara and Suki. Then after a few minutes they heard him somewhat triumphantly saying  
"I think I have something that can help."  
Zuko rushed to the kitchen and they watched him rampaging through the cupboards in search of a special type of herbs that might help Katara's cramps. When he finally found the dry herbs he was looking for, he started grinding.  
"How does he know so much?" Katara found herself asking as she observed Zuko grinding something in the pestle and adding it into the tea. She didn't realise Suki had heard her till she saw her nodding.  
"I know, right? It's freaky." Suki said, agreeing with her as Zuko brought a steamy cup of tea for Katara.  
"Here, drink this."  
Katara took a sip and immediately tried to spit it out.  
"Ugh, what is this?" Katara made a grossed out face as she drank the water to get the taste out.  
"It's a special kind of tea. The healer in the Firenation palace used to give Azula this, to calm her, whenever she got out of control." Zuko explained as he cooed Katara into drinking more.  
"You're making me drink the same tea people gave to your crazy murderous sister." Katara looked at him sceptically "How is this going to help me?"  
"It's supposed to relax your muscles, loosen you up a bit so theoretically it should also help with the cramps."  
Katara, unsatisfied by that explanation, inquired further.  
"It sounds like you are describing cactus juice."  
"It's not cactus juice!" Zuko protested hesitantly, "It's not...not the same it's....much milder."  
"Oh, so you're drugging me." Katara's tone was accusing and Zuko was reaching the threshold of his patience. He grabbed the tea cup and said  
"I'm trying to help you but if you like to suffer so much then enjoy your pain...." he got up but Katara pulled him down and took the cup from him.  
"Fine. I'll drink your tea."  
Katara took a few sips of the rather muddy tasting tea. She didn't want to drink it but she also didn't want this attentive and caring Zuko to walk away from her. Once she was done drinking the tea Zuko immediately handed her the plate of food.  
"I'm not hungry." Katara said, pushing the plate towards him and Zuko gave it back to her  
"It doesn't matter if you are hungry. You have to eat."  
"I don't have to do anything" Katara stubbornly looked away from Zuko who clenched his jaw, trying to control his frustration.  
"Katara!" he paused to take a deep breath "Your body will weaken if you don't eat anything. Please, your body needs food, you're....you are....literally bleeding, eat something."  
Both Katara and Suki's eyes widened in astonishment as they stared at Zuko. Neither of them had ever before heard a man say something like that out loud, that also so bluntly.  
"What happened?" Zuko asked, noticing Katara and Suki's stunned expression.  
"Nothing, I'll eat." Katara quickly said as she grabbed the plate from Zuko's hand. 

After tending to Katara for a while Zuko heard his own stomach growling. He went to fix some food for himself and Suki. As he was cooking he felt someone's arms snaking around him. Zuko almost jumped away, startled, when he saw it was Katara but her eyes were all glassy and she was mumbling something.  
"Katara, what's wrong?" he looked at her with concern.  
"You'rrr....wrong." Katara mumbled incoherently.  
"Suki!" Zuko urgently called "What happened to her?"  
Zuko stared anxiously at a probably intoxicated Katara. She was trembling and having a hard time standing straight. In fact Zuko had to grab her waist to keep her steady on her feet.  
"Oh, nothing. She just drank a few cups of that tea and said that she was feeling much better." Suki's unfazed voice came from the living room "She went to say thank you to you."  
Suki's words made Zuko want to faint in distress. He slapped his head over and over again while he tried to prevent Katara falling down.  
"How many cups did she drink?!!!" Zuko yelled in panic and his voice was now making Suki worried  
"I don't know, maybe four or five cup. Why how many was she supposed to drink?"  
"One! She was supposed to drink a MAXIMUM of ONE CUP, Suki!!" Zuko cried out in despair and Katara all of a sudden grabbed his chin to cheerfully say  
"Stay strong, Aang! Never give up!"  
Zuko looked at her then at Suki in utter despair  
"She can't even tell the difference between me and a bald mong kid. AND I DON'T EVEN HAVE ARROWS ON MY HEAD!"  
Now Zuko was the agitated one. Suki thought about advising him to sit down and drink water but decided against it. She instead attempted to calm them both down.  
"Okay this is nothing we can't fix. We just need to lie her down and hopefully she'll fall asleep."  
"Yes, Suki clearly seems in a mood to fall asleep." Zuko gestured towards Katara who was probably/maybe attempting to tap dance right now. Then he tried to drag her towards the couch but she resisted vehemently.  
"Zukooooo...."  
"Yes, Katara"  
"U knuw, I reelly luv urr scarrr..." she smeared her sweaty palms all over his face while he continued making his exasperated expression.  
"You know on the bright side at least she is not in pain anymore." Suki said with her half-glass-full mentality but Zuko wasn't having it.  
"Yeah, this is so much better." he jabbed as he struggled to get an intoxicated Katara back out of the kitchen. He stubbled and tripped at least thrice on her skirt before giving up and picking her up in his arms. Katara made a 'wee' sound as Zuko carried her to the sitting and dropped her on the couch. He sat near her feet, not willing to leave her alone in this inebriated state. After a minute or two of sitting there Zuko started to massage her feets. He didn't know why he was doing it, he just absent-mindedly did it.  
"U knuw Zukooo...u r reelly niise..."  
Zuko turned towards Katara to try and understand what nonsense she was babbling now.  
"Iff I knew...u r sooo niise I neverrr...wuuld dream abuut killing u."  
"You dream about killing me?" Zuko seemed faintly amused.  
"Yeaaa, thut's wha u doo to te scarii pon...ytail guuy chasin urr frends." Katara made a very convincing face then started nodding for some reason. Then suddenly she sat up and pulled Zuko's face down. Zuko was beyond startled by this action and after he noticed how close their lips were he tried to jerk away from her. But Katara didn't let go, he might be stronger one but she was determined. She held his face near her's and said  
"Buut u've chunged. U r niise now and clam nd mental nd lesss rage-y. I luke u now."  
Zuko stared at her in utter confusion as Katara eyes slowly closed her eyes and her head fell to the side. She snuggled against Zuko's neck and for a minute Zuko thought he was paralysed.  
"I think she meant calm and gentle." Suki's voice came from behind making Zuko jump away from Katara. He ran his fingers through his hair and massaged his scalp. Then he properly laid Katara on the couch and tucked her in a blanket before going to eat his half cooked breakfast.  
"Oh, by the way, that's the last of it." Suki informed, gesturing towards Zuko's food.  
"Last of what?" he looked up.  
"Everything really, we are low on supplies. Katara was supposed to go to the market today but well...." Suki left that sentence unfinished as she glanced at a snoring Katara on the couch. Meanwhile Zuko went to check their supplies.  
"Well, if I don't waste anything I can muster up some lunch, I guess. But dinner?" Zuko scratched his neck.  
"I can go to the market." Suki offered but Zuko seemed a bit apprehensive at first "Katara will be out for at least a few hours and even if she wakes up you seem perfectly capable of handling her by yourself. I have been doing....really nothing since you came home so it's not a problem, I can go. Tell me what you need."  
Then Zuko gave her a list of groceries and after she left, he spent the whole day loitering around the sitting room. He watched Katara soundly asleep, slowly snoring and couldn't help himself from smiling. He knew it was probably weird and slightly creepy to smile at a sleep girl. But everytime he tried to stop himself, Katara ends up doing something cute again like scratching her nose or frantically trying to remove a strand of hair from her face that made Zuko smile again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter kinda got out of my hand and I kept writing and writing and it became really long so I had to break it in two part. I'll be uploading part two tomorrow.


	13. When you've the worst cramps having a Zuko always helps. - Part2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Continuation of the previous chapter.

Some kind of a quaking woke Katara up from her rather deep sleep. She turned to the side to see Zuko, sitting on a chair beside her head, tremoring. He was reclined against the couch handle with his head resting on his folded hands. His voice was filled with agony as he kept muttering something in his sleep. Katara could only catch the words 'please' and 'father' and she knew he was seeing a nightmare. 'Should I wake him up?' she thought to herself as she watched Zuko's scared, tortured expression 'I should definitely wake him up. What's the meaning of letting him suffer like this?'  
"Zuko! Zuko, wake up!" Katara ruffled his hair and gently shook him. Zuko woke up with a fearful scream  
"Ahh!!...Katara...." his tensed, afraid expression softened when his eyes met a pair of warm caring blue irises.  
"Are you okay?" Katara gave him a worried look.  
"Yeah....no, I'm fine. It's just a stupid dream." Zuko rubbed his eyes, trying to bring himself back to reality. He didn't know when but he must have dozed off at some point.  
"It's not stupid if it's bothering you so much. How often do you have these nightmares?"  
Zuko didn't respond and Katara took his silence, as very often.  
"How are you feeling? How are your cramps?" Zuko tried to change the subject but Katara wasn't having it. She shrugged off whatever minor pain she was feeling under her belly and the weird dizziness in her head, instead choosing to focus on him.  
"It's fine....I'm fine. What is this nightmare about?"  
"You don't want to know." Zuko dismissively shook his head but Katara's questioning eyes pierced into him forcing him to answer.  
"I think that's my decision to make and I say I want to know."  
"That's because you have no idea what you are asking to know."  
"I don't care if it's ugly, Zuko." she said defiantly, frustration and anger crept into her words as she continued "If it's a part of you, your past....if it's bothering you I WANT to know. But if you don't want to tell me that's fine" then suddenly her tone became kind and empathetic "But I....I want you to know that if you ever want anyone to talk to....I'm always here, I'll always listen. You can tell me....the good AND the bad stuff."  
Zuko softly chuckled under his breath. There it was, Katara's two contrasting sides at full display. No matter how many times he sees her to conflicting nature it never ceases to astonish him.  
"It's about the Agni Kai....the one that left a mark on me literally and figuratively." Zuko surprised himself by saying that. He wasn't planning on opening up to Katara about the most traumatic event of his childhood, probably his life. "For the longest time after my banishment it was the only thing I remembered. Everything before it was a....blur, everything after it seemed so uncertain. My dreams, my memories, everything in my life was....just comprised of only that specific moment. I just kept reliving, vividly, over and over again."  
Zuko saw Katara's facial-expression turning into what he could only recognize as disgust. But he knew that look wasn't meant for him since he felt her finger caressing his scar and his cheek as she spoke.  
"You never told me who did this to you."  
"I've never told anyone.....nobody besides the people who knew already what happened."  
The clear vulnerability in his voice and his eyes wasn't very hard to spot. It was unlike anything Katara had seen in Zuko.  
"But you....seem to have figured it out." he said after a lot of contemplation.  
Katara gave him a guilty, slightly apologetic look  
"You were muttering 'father' in your sleep and then you said you were dreaming about the Agni Kai so...I just connected the dots."  
'So that's who the disgusted look was for....my father.' Zuko thought to himself.  
"I can't believe anyone can do something like that....that also to their own son. Is there any line that man is unwilling to cross?" Zuko wasn't sure if Katara was talking to herself or him. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through that. I can't even imagine how much pain you were in....you are in. No wonder you still have nightmares about that."  
"I don't dream about that anymore." Zuko blurted out and Katara looked up in confusion.  
"But you just said you dream about Agni Kai."  
"Yeah, but ever since I left the Firenation to join you guys the dream has....changed. It's the same setting of the Agni Kai but this time I'm not the one being burned I'm the one....burning." Katara's eyes widened with sudden terror. She definitely wasn't expecting him to say something like that. Nonetheless Zuko continued  
"I see myself ruthlessly....scaring a helpless child....my child. He begs and cries but I don't stop....I can't stop. No matter how hard I try I can't stop....Ozai won't let me stop, he is holding my hand, he is making me burn my child. He keep telling me if don't do it....I'm weak." Zuko stops to sigh into his palm. When he looks up he sees the tears trickling down Katara's cheek and curses himself for making her cry. 'She is already having a bad day as it is. Why would you say things like these to her right now?' he asked himself while slapping his own head.  
"That, ugly enough for you or do you still wanna talk about my ugly dreams?" Zuko asked with a sad smile as he wiped Katara's tears "Let's never talk about my dreams....ever again, okay?"  
Katara looked at him through her sympathetic eyes that had nothing but love for him.  
"Zuko, I can not believe you have been suppressing all that....keeping it to yourself for this long. It's not healthy!" she scolded him before flinging her arms around his neck and pulling him into a hug. "You're strong....so strong for surviving all of that and not turning into a monster like your father. And I promise you will NEVER turn into him..." Katara cupped his face again, next time today. And this time she wasn't even intoxicated "....I won't let you! You might make a few wrong decisions and take a few wrong paths but....you'll always come back. Like you came back....to me, after Ba Sing Se."  
Katara's words and her hug was tight and reassuring and....nice. Zuko kept repeating those words in his mind 'I won't let you!'. She said them with such fierceness that he dared to believe her. Believe that she will be there to stop him becoming his worst nightmare.

They didn't know how long they were holding each other but Zuko felt empty when the hug abruptly ended. He heard Katara grunting loudly as her hands left him and went to grab her stomach.  
"It's hurting again, isn't it?" Zuko asked, forgetting everything that had been going on in his mind and instead devoting all his focus on her. Katara nodded in reply, grimacing with her eyes shut.  
"The effects of the herds are finally wearing off....eventhough you did drink far more than you were supposed to." Zuko slowly eased Katara back on the couch and placed his hands above her lower stomach to soothe some of the pain. 'So that's what's causing the dizziness' Katara thought as she held her head and she remembered drinking five consecutive cups of that tea.  
"Hey, Zuko..." Katara called and Zuko looked up to meet her rather hesitant gaze "Did I do anything when I was, you know....not in my right senses."  
"Well, you started using way too many 'u's in your sentences and you called me 'clam and mental' and said dreamed about killing me....oh, and also if I remember correctly you tried to tap dance at one point. But nothing too drastic." Zuko couldn't help the grin that spread on his face as he watched Katara's face turn red in embarrassment.  
"And who was there to....witness all this?"  
"Oh, just me and Suki." Zuko nonchalantly shrugged while Katara looked around the empty room.  
"Where is she? Where is everybody?"  
"They all ran away, well, besides Suki. She went to buy some supplies."  
Zuko words made Katara mildly concerned so he quickly reassured  
"Don't worry I think they'll be back by sundown. They're just waiting for you to cool down a little."  
Katara seemed offended by this comment and was about to protest on how she wasn't the one who needed cooling down but then suddenly stopped. Zuko noticed her clenching her thighs together before she hurriedly got up from the couch. But she immediately stumbled backwards, Zuko instinctively grabbed her waist to keep her upright. Though Katara felt really dizzy, she was still shocked by this action. Zuko, on the other hand, didn't seem too bothered. He had already picked her up in his arms and carried her so holding her waist was no longer a huge deal for him.  
"I need to go to my room to....you know...." Katara stammered but Zuko kindly interrupted  
"You don't have to explain, Katara. I'll help you. Come on."  
He put one of her arms on his shoulders to support her as they went upstairs. Even when she went inside her room and closed the door he still waited outside for her. When Katara opened her door she saw Zuko standing outside with 3 pillows. One, she knew, belonged to him and the other one was Sokka's and the third one she guessed was Aang's.  
"I thought it'd make you feel more comfortable." he said as he arranged the pillows on her bed. Katara knew Zuko was caring when he wanted to be but all of this just warmed her heart and made her want to cry at the same time. 'Who would do something so monstrous to a boy this sweet?' she thought as her eyes fell on his scar. Once Katara was comfortably lying in her bed with pillows surrounding her, Zuko asked  
"Are you hungry? I can repurpose some of my breakfast and make us some lunch."  
"Does it matter if I'm hungry because it feels like you are going to feed me anyways."  
Zuko thought about what Katara said for a minute. He was going to feed her even if she said no then why did he bother asking.  
"You're probably right. Smart girl." he said before going downstairs to make lunch. Katara felt her cheek get a little warmer when she heard that mock compliment. Then she shook her head and blamed her hyperactive hormones for this. Once she had enough lunch that Zuko was satisfied he stopped nagging her and settled near the head of her bed. He watched as Katara drifted off to sleep again. Though she hasn't done anything besides screaming and babbling since the morning she still seemed so drained and exhausted. It pained him to see her this way.

Around 6 in the evening Zuko started to get really anxious. It's been a while since Suki has left and the others went out in the morning and none of them were back yet. 'What if some Firenation loyalist spotted them and took them captive?' he thought as he chewed his nails and paced around the corridor 'Worst, what if Azula caught them?'. He was wondering if he should go to the market to search for them but then decide against it. His face was probably the most recognisable one in all of Firenation. If they weren't caught yet him going out would definitely get them caught. Besides he couldn't leave Katara alone, not when she is in this state. After about an hour of nail biting and worrying Zuko finally heard the front door creaking open. He rushed down the stairs and the sight of the familiar and slightly annoying face spread relief all over his body.  
"Where were you guys? I was so worr...." he stopped in his tracks when he noticed their festive mood. He then saw half of Toph's face had a dragon painted on it and Aang was wearing a ridiculously colourful hat.  
"Did you all go to a fair?" Zuko's tone was borderline accusing. It made everyone's celebratory mood fall flat. He fisted his hands and placed them on his hips as he observed their guilty expressions. Then Zuko's eyes fell on Suki  
"These three doing things like this I understand, they've been irresponsible buffoons since the day I met them.... But you Suki? You too!" he eyed Suki with a disappointed look on his face.  
"I bump into them in the market....and then they asked me to come with....and it all looked so fun...." Suki hastily tried to explain but Zuko raised his hand.  
"Enough. I don't want to hear it." Then he stopped to give them all a chastising look that said more than words could before turning to Suki again "Did you bring the supplies?"  
Suki handed him the groceries but didn't dare to look at his glowing golden eyes. Zuko glanced at the clock before jeering, one last time  
"Now I'll be late for making dinner."  
"Actually we already had dinner." Sokka informed a little too cheerfully but Zuko gave him a how-dare-you look that crushed his spirits too.  
"Get out of my sight!" Zuko spat "Go to your rooms and don't come out!"  
All four of them scurried away without looking up from the floor.

The next time Katara wakes up it is to the smell of soup. She isn't fully awake yet but she knows who is standing at her bedside with a tray of food.  
"You made food?"  
Zuko nodded as he placed the bowl and cup down in front of Katara  
"What is this?" Katara made a face as she scanned her food "Broccolispinach soup and herbal tea? Ugh... Zuko!"  
"It's supposed to help." was Zuko's only response to Katara's whining. He force fed her the soup and as much as it pains Katara to admit it, the disgusting soup did help. Now she was starting to get really curious on how he knew so much about something that most men, especially boys around his age knew nothing about. After dinner Katara laid down on the bed again but this time she didn't instantly fall asleep. Instead they talked for at least an hour, Zuko ranted about how he was unnecessarily worrying about everyone while they were having fun.  
"They went to a fair? That is sooo....unfair. Why do they get to have fun while we suffer?" Katara seemed infuriated to learn that her brother and her friend went to a fair all by themselves.  
"Then the nerve of your brother.... 'we already ate', that's what he told me you know. Straight to my face. 'WE ALREADY ATE', how could he say something like that?" Zuko looked outraged and Katara mirrored his expression  
"How dare him? We cook for them EVERYDAY! They can't just waltz in here and say something like that. Those ungrateful jerks." she patted Zuko's back in solidarity "You know we should shove one of those skewers of meat they sell in fairs down Sokka's throat"  
"He might thank us for doing that."  
"You're probably right. Just the skewer then?" Katara looked at Zuko who gave an approving nod "Yeah we'll shove just the skewer down his throaahhh!" Katara let out a cry and Zuko jumped from his seat and rushed to her side.  
"What's wrong? What wrong!?!" he was panicking and his agitation only increased as he helplessly watched Katara grasping her hips and grunting in pain.  
"Ahhh!!! Oh Spirits!! My back is hurting, Zuko, now MY BACK is also hurting!" she sobbed, clinching Zuko's shoulder with one hand and her own back with another.  
"Okay, okay....calm down." Zuko was more talking to himself than to Katara. He held her waist with warmed up hands to reduce her pain but that didn't seem to get her to stop crying.  
"I'm gonna take care of you, okay? I'm here.... I'm gonna help you. Tell me what happened." Zuko caressed her hair and desperately attempted to soothe her.  
"It's hurting, Zukooo!! I tried to straighten my back and now....ah....now it feels like someone's piercing my skin. Do you think I'm dying, Zuko?" she turned around and held his face in distress "Do you think my reproductive organs are falling off!?! Is that why it's hurting so much?!? Am I going to DIE Zukooo!!" her voice was so panicky that it made Zuko lose whatever calm he was holding onto.  
"You are NOT DYING!" he rushed to reassure her "And nothing is falling out of anywhere, just....tell me where it hurts. Where does it hurt the most?"  
Katara pointed to two very specific places on her lower back. Zuko hesitated touching her there for a minute but then Katara let out another shrill pain filled cry and he threw whatever hesitation he was feeling out of the window. He grabbed her hips with four of his fingers and used his rather warm thumbs to draw circles on her back. After repeating the process a few times he felt Katara calming down. His strong slightly rough fingers applying just the right pressure on the stinging pain made her feel much better. After a minute or two Zuko heard a moan, an actual moan. At first he thought his ears were ringing but then he heard it again, a undeniable, unmistakable moan of pleasure. If Zuko thought kneeling in front of Katara and hovering his hands over her stomach wasn't uncomfortable then this was beyond any level of discomfort he has ever felt around her.  
"Oh....mhh...Zuko, your fingers feel amazing...." Katara said breathlessly and at that moment Zuko just wanted the earth to open up and swallow him whole. He felt his body stiffening and he shifted away from her a little bit but didn't stop massaging her back. She was in pain and the least he could do was bite back his own silly qualm for her.  
"WHAT IS GOING ON ?!!"  
All of a sudden Sokka busted into Katara's room, screaming.  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!" he pointed accusingly at Zuko who flinched away from Katara and recoiled backwards, almost falling off the bed.  
"What the hell man!!" Zuko shouted after regaining his balance.  
"What do you want, Sokka?" Katara asked annoyed and utterly unimpressed. She gave him a death glare that said get-the-fuck-of-my-room.  
"What....w-what is Zu-uko doing here?" Sokka's voice was shaky now. He seemed rather frightened by his sister and Zuko didn't blame him. Katara did look extremely menacing and she seemed uncannily still for someone who thought she was dying from pain a few minutes ago.  
"He was massaging my back. BECAUSE.... I. Am. In. Excruuu...ciating. Amounts. Of. PAIN! Now GET OUT of my room or I will PHYSICALLY get up and THROW you out!"  
Sokka's eyes went wider than an ocean as he watched and....heard his sister going full Avatar state on him. Before he had the chance to turn around and run Zuko felt the need to ask  
"Wait, what did you think I was doing?"  
"Well, I heard the noise and then I saw you in here so....you know...."  
"Oh my....how could you....I'd never...." Zuko was so offended by Sokka's assumption that he couldn't even get a proper sentence out of his mouth. So he finally settled on "Get out!"  
"At least give me my pillow back." Sokka requested when he noticed it on the bed and Katara threw the pillow on his face before letting out a feral scream  
"OUT!"  
After recovering from Sokka's abrupt interruption Zuko went back to massaging Katara's back again. As he did so he felt the need to clarify something to her  
"You know I'm....not that kind of a guy who....takes advantage....of someone in...."  
Katara placed her hand over his and squeezed it lightly before saying  
"I know. Thank you."  
"It's not a problem I mean...." Zuko was stammering something but Katara cut him off.  
"No, really I meant it. Thank you. You've been really nice, people are usually not so nice about all this....especially men. Mostly they're just disgusted, other times they are trying to run away."  
"Well, I'm not like most men." Zuko mumbled with his adorable smile.  
"Yeah, clearly." Katara kinda scoffed "You know awfully too much about all this....things that you're supposed to know nothing about." she raised an eyebrow and looked back at him "Why do you know so much, again?"  
"I don't know if you noticed but I didn't exactly have any male friends back at the Firenation. Whatever 'friends' I did have were Azula friends and....they weren't exactly tight-lipped about their problems." he paused to chuckle a bit before saying "A 12 year old Zuko once spent a very enlightening day with Ty Lee and her 6 sisters."  
"Ty Lee has 6 sisters?" Katara was already stunned but Zuko's next words stunned her even further.  
"Yeah, she is one out of a match set of seven girls."  
"Spirits! I didn't even know you could have seven children at once."  
"Yeah and all 7 of their....cycles had somehow.... collided, turning their house into a horror show once every mouth. It was terrifying and astonishing and just....bewildering."  
The mortified expression on Zuko's face made Katara laugh out loud.  
"What else did you learn on this....enlightening day?" she was still chuckling.  
"Well, I learnt about childbirth." Zuko gave a regretful smile while shaking his head.  
"Uff.... " Katara grimaced, imagining how little Zuko must have reacted to learning something that horrified even her.  
"A hard thing for a young boy, full of aspirations, to hear."  
Zuko couldn't stop a fond smile from appearing on his face. After witnessing Katara suffering all day seeing her chuckling right now and knowing that he was the reason for her laughter made him genuinely happy. Her laugh eventually turned into yawning and Zuko glanced at the clock and realised that it was getting pretty late.  
"I should go. Let you rest." Zuko started getting up but Katara held him in place.  
"No, don't! Please don't go." her tone was a mixture of a plead and a whine "If you and your warm, massaging hands go away the pain will come back. And I can't handle anymore of this.... Please stay, Zukooo."  
Zuko didn't know why Katara kept calling him 'Zukooo' in a singsong way but if this was her way of convincing him it was working, a little too well.  
"Are you sure that's a good idea? I don't want to...."  
"Why not?" Katara interrupted before he could even finish his entire query. "I mean you said you weren't that kind of a guy who takes advantage. So what's the problem?" she stared at him so expectantly that he couldn't make himself say no. He sighed and plopped back into the bed with her. At first Zuko was all stiff and still not really moving or anything besides massaging her back but after staying there for a while he also started to loosen up. Once he got a little comfortable and less on edge Katara discovered that the entirety of Zuko was warm, not just his hands and he was also really cuddly. She had her back to him so she scooted backwards to feel the warmth of his entire body and though he recoiled a bit he eventually allowed her to snuggle against him. Soon enough even he was nuzzling his face into Katara's hair.  
"Oh look, someone getting cosy." she just couldn't help herself from teasing.  
"I can leave if you want me to." Zuko pretended to get up. But in reality he was too comfortable to get up right now.  
"Don't you dare get up, firebender." Katara sheepishly threatened and Zuko chuckled quietly when he heard her calling him 'firebender'.  
"You know, if I knew you were such a good masseur I'd have let you join the group much earlier. And made you massage my feet everyday." Katara finally muttered before they both slowly drifted off.

When Zuko woke up his face was buried under a head of brown wavy hair. He got up and squinted his eyes to see the time on the clock. It was half past 9 and Zuko couldn't believe his eyes. Not only has he never woke up this late he has never even slept through the without once waking up. 'Did I get a peaceful, good night's sleep?' Zuko asked himself and was surprised when the answer was yes. He looked to his side to see Katara still soundly asleep, she seemed so at ease and relaxed 'and cute'. 'Stop thinking that, you immodest asshole. She trusted you enough to let you stay in her bed.' he scolded himself. Then he suddenly remembered that if they were both still in bed then no one had yet made breakfast for the helpless imbeciles. Zuko maneuvered his way out of Katara's bed without waking her up. Then he made sure that she was properly tucked in and comfortable before making his way outside. As soon as he entered the corridor Suki and Toph opened their door as if they were waiting for him. They both gave him almost identical approving, be it slightly inappropriate, smiles. He just stared at them in confusion for a few minutes before going downstairs to cook

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was comparatively longer than the other one. But I just can't stop writing about caring Zuko.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> People keep vanishing. Zuko is agitated. Toph centric chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry for whoever read the last update. That was the rough version that I had draft which I accidentally post. So sorry. 
> 
> Set before ember island players.  
> A week after the last two chapters.

When Zuko came back from his morning run today 4 pairs of expectant eyes (including Toph's) stared at him if he was supposed to do something but had completely forgotten.  
"What?" he asked, a little afraid of what new tune they were going to make him dance to now.  
"Breakfast?" Sokka looked at him with anticipation but Zuko seemed puzzled.  
Zuko and Katara had a schedule. They made lunch and dinner together everyday and on alternate days one of them made breakfast and the other one did laundry. And Zuko was certain today was his day to do laundry that means....  
"Katara didn't make breakfast?"  
"No, she's not home." Suki casually said and Zuko's eyes widened. 'Where was she?' he wondered. If she was planning on going somewhere he would know, he was sure Katara would tell him. 'Did something happen to her? Did someone kidnap her?' Zuko's brain was going hundred miles per hour.  
"Where is she?" he gulped nervously.  
"I don't know. She didn't exactly inform me before leaving"  
Zuko was about to ask a hundred follow up questions when Toph interjected  
"Can you stop this 'where is Katara?!' 'oh my spirits, Katara!' and give us some food."  
"I was just..." Zuko started but Toph cut him off again.  
"Yeah, yeah, you are worried about Sugarqueen. We know. That's not news to any of us. She is a big girl, she can handle herself. Now stop your interrogation and cook us some breakfast."  
Zuko knew arguing with Toph was a waste of time and there was a low chance he was going to win so he just went to the kitchen. After making and serving breakfast for them Zuko went to change his clothes that were still sweaty from the morning run. He couldn't stop thinking about Katara's whereabouts even as he took a bath. While Zuko was putting on a fresh tunic he suddenly heard a loud crashing noise. He rushed downstairs and into the kitchen to see the pitcher, that all of their drinking water, broken. It's shattered pieces and water covering the kitchen floor. After seeing this mess Zuko looked up at Sokka and Suki who were standing on the side with guilty faces.  
"What happened here?!!" Zuko demanded, glaring at them. But neither of them answered, they just exchanged a look and kept quiet. Zuko didn't even need a response after looking at their flushed cheeks and lips he already knew what had happened  
"In the kitchen, really? Have some decency people!" he scolded them then averted his attention to the mess they had made. "Uh...Agni, now I have to clean this up. And this was all of our drinking water. What are we going to do now?" Zuko's head fell down to his chest in frustration and distress.  
"Okay, this is nothing we can not fix." Suki said affirmatively "We just need to bend the water insi.... Oh, we need Katara for that." her face fell flat when she remembered Katara wasn't home.  
"Aang knows waterbending, we can call him." Sokka suggested and Zuko finally lifted his head, looking mildly hopeful. He scanned the sitting room but couldn't find Aang.  
"Where is Aang?" he asked the only person leisurely sitting on the couch.  
"He is practising earthbending on the far side of the beach." Toph shrugged while picking dirt out of her toe nails. Zuko raised an eyebrow in confusion  
"If he is practising earthbending then are you, his earthbending master, doing here?"  
"I gave him a few assignments." Toph dismissively waved him off "Besides teaching techniques are less hands on and naggy than your's and Sugarqueen's."  
"Is that the case or are you just sitting indoors because it's hot outside?" Zuko still had his eyebrows arched but they promptly dropped down when Toph threateningly stood up.  
"Are you challenging my way of teaching, Sparky?" Toph asked dangerously. Zuko didn't want to push it and start a mud fight inside the house especially when he already had a mess to clean. So he walked away letting Toph fall back onto the couch. When Zuko re-entered the kitchen he saw Suki and Sokka making an even bigger mess of the mess they'd already made.  
"What are you two doing?" he yelled in despair.  
"We created this mess so we thought we could....clean it." Sokka said earnestly with big puppy eyes and Zuko's anger softened a little.  
"This is not cleaning..." he shook his head "Just leave it I'll do it."  
He ushered them both out and loudly announced one last time  
"And henceforth no making out in PUBLIC areas." before going inside to clean the kitchen floor.  
"Why am I getting yelled at?" Toph grumbled "I don't make out. Period."

Zuko picked up all the shattered pieces of the pitcher then started mopping the floor. The kitchen floor was basically flooded, he used all the towels in the house but even then he wasn't able to soak up all the water. After a lot of contemplation Zuko decided to use all of their need-to-be-washed clothes to soak up the water. 'I have to wash them anyways' he told himself as he threw the undone laundry on the kitchen floor. By the time he was done cleaning this mess his back hurt like hell and he still had a bunch of wet dirty laundry to do.  
"Hey, Zuko!"  
Zuko heard Aang calling from outside but didn't have the energy to go all the way to the front door right now so he just shouted back.  
"What do you want, Aang?"  
A few minutes later Aang's voice came again this time from directly beside him  
"When are we having fire bending practice today?"  
An exhausted Zuko turned towards Aang, he seemed full of energy and....mud (fresh from earth bending practice). Then he turned to stare at the clock. They were already an hour late for practice.  
"No fire bending today."  
"You are cancelling practice!!" Aang seemed beyond ecstatic by the words that came out of Zuko's.  
Zuko didn't have too much time to dwell well on his decisions, he still had a world of work left. As he started collecting all the wet clothes and taking them to the laundry room he heard Aang cheerfully asking Toph.  
"Toph, Zuko cancelled practice do you wanna go to the beach and help me find some sea shells?"  
"Oh look, who's the lazy teacher now."  
Zuko's nostrils flared up when Toph took a jab at him.  
"Don't you dare call me lazy!" Zuko lifted his finger as a warning. "I am the one slaving after you all. What do you do besides sitting and.....picking your nose and toes all day?" he glared viciously at her while the water began sipping out of the wet clothes he was holding.  
"Hey, I carry my weight!" Toph protested, returning his glare.  
"More like Katara carried your weight on her extremely fatigued shoulders." Zuko scoffed and dropped the cloths when he realized that Toph was about to attack. Thankfully Aang came in the way and tried to stop her so that this is not destroyed in a fight between a firebender with serious anger issues and a violently skilled earthbender.  
"I don't NEED you to take care of me! I was fine before you came and I WILL BE FINE WITHOUT YOU!!!" Toph screamed at the top of her voice but Zuko didn't have time to put up with this. He nonchalantly picked up all the clothes from the floor and went to the laundry room. After Zuko did all the laundry he was completely exhausted. The thought of now having to make lunch made him want to collapse into a pile of nothing. When he came to the living room he saw Toph and Aang were gone and Zuko was glad. 'Some peace and quiet' he thought as he sat down on the couch to rest and almost like on cue Aang bursted into the house agitated and shouting, determined to not let him take a breather.  
"Zuko, Zuko! You've to help us."  
"What did you do now?" Zuko let out an exasperated sigh.  
"T-Toph, she is....she is hurt. I....I-I can't....BLOOD!!" Aang incoherently yelled in Zuko's face.  
As soon as Zuko heard 'Toph and blood' he ran outside to see Toph sitting on the steps with her leg in her lap, sniffling. A broken piece of sea shell was pierced inside her feet and a thin stream of blood trickling down from it. It took Zuko a minute and a good hard look at Toph to believe that she was actually crying.  
"What happened?" Zuko looked at Aang who started stammering  
"We we-were collecting seashells and....and she was helping me find them with her sandbending and....t-then a broken shell went into her feet and now....she can't see anymore and...and...."  
"Okay, okay that's enough." Zuko put a stop to his storytelling and went to sit beside Toph.  
"It's fine. Everything is fine. We are just going to pull it out and put some ointment on it. And when Katara comes back she will heal it in no time and you'll see just fine."  
Zuko tried to comfort her as he grabbed her leg to take out the broken piece of shell from the flat of her feet. But she grasped his hand midway.  
"I don't need....your help!" Toph's voice came out as something between a sob and a defiant roar.  
"Oh, come on, Toph! You are clearly in pain and that was a stupid argument." Zuko reasoned as he eyed the blood trickling down her feet and drops of it falling on the ground. But when Toph reluctantly shook her head his reasoning turned into begging "Come on please, just let me take it out, okay? I won't....PLEASE!!"  
He didn't want to watch her suffer and that bloody shell sticking out of her feet looked so grisly and painful. Toph still didn't allow him to help and Zuko could almost hear himself thinking 'I wish Katara was here'. But she wasn't and he had to do something, he couldn't just let this continue. So Zuko tried again  
"It's was a dumb fight, okay?"  
"It wasn't a dumb fight!" Toph sneered "You said I don't do anything all day."  
Zuko realised that Toph wasn't going to listen to reason so he decided to man up and swallow his pride.  
"I was tired and frustrated and I....s-said things that I d-didn't m...mean." Zuko was having a hard time lying. "You do....p-plenty around the house and....you uh..." He was having an even harder time trying to find one example of household work Toph had done.  
"JUST TAKE IT OUT!" Toph yelled though she didn't seem half convinced by his lies. 'The pain must have got to her' Zuko thought before he went to grab her leg again. As he pulled out the biggest piece of shells he heard a shrill scream that made him flinched away. He looked up at Toph but she wasn't the one screaming.  
"Why are YOU screaming!?!" Zuko barked at Aang who was standing behind them, fearfully watching. Then he tried to focus on the task at hand again but as soon as his fingers touched the shell another scream came from right beside his ears.  
"AANG!"  
"TWINKLETOES!"  
Both Zuko and Toph looked at him in utter annoyance.  
"Sorry! Sorry, guys. I just really don't like blood." Aang's voice trembled as he apologised.  
"No one cares! GET AWAY HERE!"  
"Why are you watching then?"  
"It's hard to take your eyes off it." Aang nervously said before walking away from the two snarling people. As Zuko finally pulled out the biggest piece he felt two small hands grabbing his shoulders and squeezing them, hard.  
"Are you done?" Toph whimpered though she tried to keep a brave face on.  
"The biggest one's out." Zuko informed as he squinted to see the smaller pieces of shells.  
"There are more than ONE?!?" Toph cried out and Zuko tried to calm her. The smaller pieces were quite hard to take out especially with Toph wiggling so much.  
"Can you hurry up? It's hurting!"  
"It's just really hard to see." Zuko word were laced with frustration as he struggled to get a hold on the smaller pieces  
"Yeah tell me about it!" Toph quipped and her sass wasn't helping. Zuko was already sweating due to the pressure and the summer sun and to add to this a drop of sweat trickled his forehead and directly into his eyeballs. He threw his head back in frustration as he rubbed his eyes and cleared his blurry vision. Toph sensing Zuko's annoyance and thinking it was directed towards her, swatted his hands away and declared  
"Oh, if it's such an inconvenience for you, for I'll do it myself!"  
She pulled away from Zuko and blindly (quite literally) reached for her feet and ended up poking herself. She shrieked in pain though Aang's shriek was louder than her's.  
"SPIRITS! Make her stoooppp!" Aang looked away while Zuko almost leaped towards her  
"No, no! You CAN'T do it yourself!" he held her hand to stop her from hurting herself anymore. When Toph tried to jerk Zuko away he held both of her hands to still her and even lifted her up to prevent her from wiggling out. Amongst all this chaos suddenly a voice came from outside the courtyard.  
"Guy, what's going on?"  
When Zuko realized whose voice it was he let out the loudest sigh of relief. Katara, on the other hand, looked baffled at the scene going on at the steps of their house.  
"Katara! Katara, DO something! Please!" Aang requested as he pointed towards Toph's feet. Katara quickly jumped into action, covering Toph's injuries with water. She bended the water to effortlessly take out the small pieces of shells. Once Katara was done healing Toph, she freed herself from Zuko's hold then snarled at him before stomping inside the house. Zuko slumped down on the steps clearly exhausted, massaging his forehead. Katara walked towards him while Aang went after Toph.  
"Where were you?" Zuko asked, a little pissed off when she sat beside him.  
"I went to that market." Katara shrugged and saw Zuko glaring at her "Why are you so angry? Weren't you the one who told me to take a day off once in a while?"  
"If you were planning on taking a sabbatical would it have killed you to inform me once."  
"I didn't think I had." Katara rudely said, offended by Zuko's authoritative tone.  
"You can't just LEAVE ME UNINFORMED with a sea shell collecting child, a know-it-all 13 year old and a teenager with his girlfriend!"  
Zuko's harsh words made Katara understand that she had left him alone to fend for himself and the others and she instantly became remorseful about her actions.  
"I'm sorry I should have gone out like that." Katara apologised as she slumped down on the steps.  
"I'm not angry at you for going out. If there is anyone who deserves a break from all this it's you." Zuko said, realising that Katara had misunderstood him "I'm just upset that you didn't give me a heads up. You better than anyone know how hard it is to keep a check on all of them."  
"Yeah they're a hefty bunch aren't they?" Katara chuckled, remembering the day before Zuko when she had to run after them all. "What happened between you and Toph?"  
"I told her that she doesn't do anything all day and she got unnecessarily pissed off." Zuko sighed and Katara grimaced  
"Oh, yeah that's a sensitive subject. She has some issues with authority....or dependency or maybe both."  
"Great, more things I don't know about you guys. Maybe you should write me a guidebook about what not to say because I just keep screwing up."  
"No you don't." Katara objected, supportively but Zuko wasn't buying it  
"Really? Because as far as I remember I couldn't teach Aang without your help and I think we can all agree that I screwed things up with you really bad and now this...."  
"Hey, hey!" Katara cut him off "You are teaching Aang fine on your own and you and I are good now. And....as far as this thing with Toph goes, she just doesn't like being perceived as weak....it has something to do with her coddling parents, I think."  
Zuko looked at Katara incredulously "Weak? I never saw her as weak. In fact I'm so used to seeing her as someone strong that seeing her cry today was just....jarring." Zuko eyed the few drops of blood that stained the step where Toph had been sitting "You know I only just realized how tiny she was when I lifted her up today."  
"Trusted me, I know. When we first met I saw her destroy this muscular, huge guy, five times her size with ONE move and I was....stunned." Katara smiled as she remembered what happened to The Bolder "And then we watched her fight seven earthbender at once and win without breaking a sweat and I immediately knew how strong she was and it's hard to see her as anything besides the greatest earthbender in the world. But she is also a kid with her own set of insecurities and....fears. And unfortunately one of them is as irrational as being seen helpless."  
Zuko nodded understandingly "I'll talk to her later."  
He seemed way too exhausted to do or say anything else now.  
"You know what, I'll do you a solid. I'll cook lunch and dinner and clean up whatever mess they have made and let you have some....me time for the rest of the day." Katara's offer made Zuko smile. He wouldn't mind some me time although he refused to call it that.  
"Well, why don't you start by filtering some water....I'm so thirsty." he suggested as they got up to go inside the house.  
"I thought we had a pitcher full of water." Katara looked confused and Zuko shook his head  
"Don't get me started on what happened to the pitcher...."

Katara cooked dinner while Zuko sat on the counter giving her company and helping her out once in a while. After having a relaxing and a few hours of rest Zuko felt much better and was now telling Katara about Sokka and Suki's indecency but she didn't seem too surprised. As the vegetables cooked she told him how exactly they met Toph and what happened in the underground earthbending tournament that led them to seek out the Blind Bandit and all that followed. Soon enough Zuko was snorting loudly  
"You're telling me that there is actually a guy who calls himself....The Bolder, by choice?" Zuko looked completely in disbelief and Katara nodded vehemently to convince him while she also laughed  
"Yes! And he repeatedly kept calling himself that in THIRD PERSON!"  
"That is the most obnoxious thing I have ever heard in my life." Zuko could only shake his head.  
"I know and Sokka loved him!"  
"Of course he did!" Zuko said, as if it was the most obvious thing for Sokka to do and Katara laughed again, thinking that it probably was. But suddenly their fit of laughter was broken by a loud groaning noise. They turned to see Toph glaring at them with a very displeased expression  
"Can you two lower the volume of your chummy chitchat?" she said rudely though the hostilities were mostly directed towards Zuko. Toph then went towards the door and left, closing the door loudly behind her.  
"Where are you going?!" Katara called after her but it was too late. Zuko huffed at the her growing rebellious behavior and said  
"I'll talk to her when she comes back."  
But she didn't come back. It was late afternoon and everyone had already finished lunch. Toph's food was still on the table properly lidded, awaiting her. The rest of them were also huddled up in the living room waiting for her. Zuko paced around the room impatiently, he could help his brain from wandering a thousand questions at the same time. 'Where is she? Is she okay? She must be hungry? What if something happened to her? What she got stuck somewhere she couldn't get out of?.... THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!'. For the second time today Zuko felt like he was going to faint from worrying. If he had just kept his mouth shut early none of them would be in this position. He and his stupid anger had unnecessary created an issue where there should have been NO ISSUES. Katara, also worried, sat on the couch with her eyes transfixed on the door. She would be lying if she said Zuko constant sighing wasn't getting on her nerves. After a long while Zuko painstakingly said  
"It's useless. We can't wait here forever. We should go look for her."  
He made his way towards the door but Katara quickly put her hand on his chest to stop her  
"No, no....she'll come back, we just need to calm down, okay? Besides we don't know where she went. Even if we go to look for her, where do we even begin looking."  
"What do you mean CALM DOWN!! She has vanished and it has been over 3 hours...."  
"Don't scream at me. We are on the same team here." Katara reminded Zuko when he started yelling. Aang seemed like he was ready to jump between them if they started fighting. But Katara took a breath and gave him a understanding look  
"Trust me on this, okay? I have had quite a few bad fights with her and one time she even left. So I've been in your shoes and I know exactly how guilty you are feeling right now. She'll come back, I know it."  
"But what if she doesn't?" Zuko cried out.  
"If she doesn't come back by sundown we will look for her. But right I NEED YOU to calm down because you're driving me insane."  
"You and me both sister." Sokka raised his hand for a high-five but Katara just glared him down.  
"Yeah, the last time Toph ran away she had tea with your uncle, took some really good advice and came back. Maybe the same will happen this time. Maybe! Toph will bring your uncle back with her." the ever optimistic Avatar Aang spoke and Zuko eyes widened at the absurdity of what he had just heard. He could not handle Aang's naive positivity, not right now  
"We don't know, it's better to stay positive...." before Aang could continue Zuko glanced at Katara and informed  
"I'm gonna go upstairs and meditate so I don't burn the world's last hope alive."

"Oh, Tui and La, save me!!"  
Loud screaming noises disturbed Zuko's meditation. One of those screaming voices was familiar to his ears, very familiar. It made him jump up and sprint outside. As soon as he stepped down the stairs Katara grabbed onto his arms and his back and pushed him forward to hide behind him. Before he could ask what's wrong he saw Toph, standing a few feets away from them, with a huge porcupinespider in her hand. That huge ugly 8 legged spine covered things was undeniably the reason for Katara's anguish and she was not the only one afraid. He noticed both Sokka and Aang cowering behind Suki who also looked rather frightened.  
"Do you like it?" Toph gleefully lifted the porcupinespider and almost shoved in Zuko's face.  
"Get that thing out of the house!" Zuko ordered taking a few steps back. Katara was still clutching onto him like her life depended on it.  
"Do you like it? I wanted to gift it to you." Toph inched closer and Katara screamed at the top of her voice  
"AH! NO! FOR THE SAKE OF ALL THAT IS GOOD GET THAT THING OUT OF HERE!!" She ferociously jabbed Zuko to do something and he did. He pulled Toph by her collar and dragged her and her porcupinespider out of the house and away from the hysterically screaming people.  
"Okay, sit down. We need to have a talk." Zuko said sternly as he closed the door. Toph didn't listen to him at first but he steadily stared at her without another word till she obeyed him. They both sat down on the porch and Zuko took a deep breath before starting  
"I know you're angry at me for what I said and you have every right to be. Half of the world is angry at me for something and I can't handle it. Yell at me, hate me, throw boulders at me....I can handle it. But you CANNOT pull shit like this! Because I cannot handle this!"  
"What? You're so afraid of a porcupinespider?" Toph asked, smugly as she tickled her new companion's soft belly.  
"You cannot just disappear....for hours at a time....while we're hiding in plain sight....under the nose of the Firelord....before the Sozin's comet!" Zuko's chest was heaving from yelling so much. He sat there breathing heavily with his face in his palm. He half expected Toph to say something infuriating but she kept eerily quiet. He wondered if he had just made this situation ten times worse. In an attempt to make things better he tried to explain his actions  
"You know in my defense I was extremely exhausted and I just thought I was pointing the obvious. Not that....I'm not saying that you....p-picking your nose all day is....obvious. That's NOT what I'm saying! No, okay....let me rephrase that." Zuko sighed 'why do I keep screwing things up'. "I'm sorry that what I said ruffled you the wrong way. I didn't know. Henceforth I'll be careful." he kept it short and concise to prevent himself from rambling too much.  
"Don't worry about it, sparky, I am not as sentimental as Sugarqueen and Twinkletoes." Toph shrugged nonchalantly though it was clear that she meant it. A minute or two of silence followed before she spoke again "I didn't know you cared so much. Honestly I kinda thought you just cared about Katara."  
Zuko seemed rather puzzled by this statement "Why would you think that? Of course I care! You guys are the first real friends I have...." Toph looked up at him and he paused, suddenly realising what he had just said.  
"Did you just accidentally call us your friends?" Toph teased with a smile and Zuko hesitated but eventually accepted  
"Yeah....I mean....I guess. As much as it pained me to admit it....you guys are my friends. Very annoying and extremely needy, friends. But friends nonetheless."  
"Yeah, you guys are my only friends too." Toph patted his back camaraderie.  
"What were you planning on doing with that thing?" Zuko asked, eyeing the porcupinespider who's stomach she was absent-mindedly caressing  
"Oh, I was going to put it on your head while you slept. Thought it'd annoy you." Toph casually informed Zuko and he gave her a mildly alarmed look before agreeing.  
"Yeah, that would have annoyed me, alright. That's actually a brilliant idea. Can I use that on Sokka some time? He can be very irritating."  
"Sure. Now that we're on that subject, can I keep him?" Toph picked that huge ugly thing up and both of them looked at Zuko "At first our relationship was only about scaring you but now I've kind of gotten attached. Besides, isn't he cute?"  
Zuko stared at them both horrified. Although he had to admit for how terrifying that thing looked it behaved like an innocent, harmless ball made of spikes. Still that didn't stop him from refusing Toph's request without consideration.  
"Absolutely not. We have one too many animal companions as it is." Zuko simply said before walking inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uploaded this chapter earlier today and wrote about how it got deleted THRICE. Well, I'm re-uploading this chapter because it got deleted AGAIN. FOR THE FORTH TIME.
> 
> P. S. Please ignore the typos. There probably will be many since I just sat for four hours writing this out of spite and utter frustration.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara is homesick and Zuko tries to make her feel better. They share a few awkward and tense moments. Also Sokka and Suki have some relationship problems and Zuko gets involved, much to his dismay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set before directly after the last chapter. 
> 
> This one is a share pov. I didn't give any divider but I think it's pretty clear whose head we're in.

Another shell snapped in half and Katara cursed under her breath. 'Why do these stupid things keep breaking?' she was fuming with frustration but she wasn't going to lose it. She'll hold onto her sanity and remain calm. She just needs to be patient and focus. 'Calm down' Katara told herself to stop her hands from shaking as she stitched two ribbons together. But as soon as she went to stitch the third one the first two ripped off and 'Ahh!!' she screamed in her head. If it wasn't the dead of night she would probably be screaming out loud right now.  
"Katara?"  
She yelped when the questioning voice startled the living out of her.  
"Zuko..." she gasped in relief when she saw a groggy eyed Zuko squinting at her from the stairs. "What are you doing up so late?"  
"I was going to the bathroom, saw the light still burning down here, thought Toph woke up to feed her porcupinespider." Zuko spoke while rubbing his eyes "So I came to check. What are you doing still awake?"  
"Oh, I just...." Katara began but then thought maybe explaining the whole thing wasn't a good idea "Couldn't sleep."  
"Still afraid of the porcupinespider?" Zuko asked with a grin and Katara instantly felt her cheeks heating up.  
"It's not funny, Zuko! That thing is still outside, on our porch." she retorted and Zuko's grin grew wider  
"I'll deal with it tomorrow, I promise." Zuko assured her before walking towards her. His bare chest gave Katara flashbacks of how she had acted when she saw that thing. 'Why did I do that?' Katara asked herself. She had basically jumped on Zuko with full force and grabbed onto his 'rather muscular' bare chest. 'His muscular chest in NOT THE POINT!' she scolded herself in embarrassment 'I'm a Waterbending Master. I shouldn't need a man to protect me from an animal. Even if it is a very ugly and terrifying animal I still should not hide behind A MAN. Especially one who, for some reason, is always half naked!' Though Katara told herself that she still couldn't take her eyes off Zuko as he came and sat beside her.  
"Do you ever wear a shirt?" she asked, angrily. Although that anger was directed more to herself than him.  
"I was sleeping." Zuko grumbled, surprised that his state of undress bothered her so much. But then he trailed off as he examined the plethora of stitching equipment and the box of sea shells laid in front of Katara. When his eyes fell on the silk ribbons in her hand and he recognized them as his mom's hair ribbons, he couldn't help but ask  
"What are you doing with all this?"  
Katara had been expecting that question. Judging by the way Zuko had been looking around it was clear that he was curious.  
"I was trying to....make a belt for myself." she answered, feeling a little foolish about her actions "Aang keeps giving me these sea shells and....I mean they're beautiful but I don't know what to do with them. And I found these ribbons in the attic yesterday so....I thought maybe I could stitch them together and decorate them with the shells." she scratched her neck hesitantly as she stared at Zuko expecting him to say something. 'He must be thinking I'm crazy.' she thought to herself 'What was I even thinking waking up in the middle of the night to make a belt?'. Zuko looked around thoughtfully contemplating something. Katara waited a while for him to say something but when he didn't she only, self-chastisingly, said  
"I know it's a dumb idea. It's just....I just wanted to make myself something nice....but this has turned into a disaster."  
"It's not a dumb idea." Zuko reassured with a grimace as he scanned the torn ribbons and shells that had snapped in half. He picked up one of the silk ribbons "You're just using the wrong material. These are hair ribbons, they're flimsy. They won't be able to hold the weight of the shells."  
Katara groaned at Zuko's words "I wished you had told me that before I went to the market."  
"Well, if I knew you were going to the market...."  
"Yes, yes I know." Katara cut him off. She was getting kinda irritated that he kept bringing up the market thing. "I made a huge mistake by not telling you that I was going to the market."  
"Is this why you went to the market, today, to buy all this? Because you wanted to make a belt?"  
Zuko's question made Katara feel embarrassed. She knew they weren't supposed to go out in the public unless necessary, especially with all the Firenation soldiers looking for them. But when she woke up in the morning she just couldn't make herself stay at home. Katara missed the snow, the cold, the igloos and she couldn't bear to stay locked up in this house anymore.  
"Yeah, I mean....I know I shouldn't have risk getting caught but...." Katara hesitantly scratched the back of her neck "....I got a little home sick and with my 15th birthday nearing I just....missed being home and I wanted to make something that reminded me of it. I know we don't have sea shells in the south pole but it's close."  
"When is your birthday?" Zuko asked, sympathetically. Guilt flashed over his face as he felt partly responsible that this girl who deserves the world, wouldn't even get to properly celebrate her birthday.  
"I don't know really." Katara shrugged and Zuko raised a brow  
"You don't know when your birthday is?"  
"In the poles we used the lunar calendar which is different from the ones you have here....it's approximately sometime next week."  
"So....anything special you do on your birthdays....you know in the south pole?" Zuko awkwardly asked, though it was pretty clear to Katara that he cared. A sad smile appeared on her lips as she remembered her and Sokka's birthdays over the years.  
"Oh well, nothing much really. I mean with the limited resources we had it wasn't exactly possible to 'celebrate'. And after mom...." her voice quivered as her hand automatically reached for her necklace "Then dad left for the war and for me and Sokka birthdays just became an affair that happened every year." Katara saw the grim look on Zuko's face and realised that she was being a downer. She had been like this since the morning and honestly she was tired of sulking all day. "Though fifteen is a special birthday." she spoke again, with a more cheerier tone in an attempt to lift her and Zuko spirits "It's the year when girls are officially considered women in my tribe. Gran-gran would make all my favourite foods and if dad were home we go ice dodging and everyone from my family would give me a token from my childhood."  
Zuko seemed confused and Katara felt obliged to explain further after seeing the look on his face  
"Ice dodging is a coming of age tradition in our culture. And the tokens are supposed to symbolise growing up while also remembering the past."  
"You are missing out on so much." Zuko gazed at her intensely with this solemn look that made Katara realise that he was blaming himself.  
"Stop it, Zuko." she almost commanded. "This isn't your fault. You didn't start this war and you didn't force me to come here. I chose to help Aang end the war."  
"Wanting to end a hundred year war doesn't mean you deserve to be punished like this. You're missing out on everything important to you....it's unfair."  
"This world is unfair, Zuko. Life is unfair. And I am not the only one giving up things. Everyone here is making some sacrifice or other to end this war. So you don't have to feel pity for me." Katara sternly stated. She didn't tell him all these things to make him feel bad for her. Actually she wasn't entirely sure why she had told him all this. "Come on, I don't want to sit here and sulk all night like you. I'm sleepy and besides it's not like I can make a belt out of this anyways." she tossed the ribbons away as she got up "I'll clean all this mess up tomorrow." Then she pulled Zuko up with her and they made their way towards their rooms.  
"I don't slunk all day. I sulk considerably less nowadays." Zuko grumpily muttered, exciting a chuckle from Katara before they entered their rooms.

The house was very quiet in the early mornings with the only sounds being of controlled breathing and soft humming. Zuko sat in the balcony meditating while the sun slowly peeped up from the horizon. He didn't know how or why but his breathing had synced with the rhythm of Katara's humming. While Katara after waking up unusually early today (mostly because she barely slept last night) thought about getting an early start on the work. Today was of course her day to do laundry so she went from room to room collecting everyone's dirty clothes. Katara knocked on Toph's and Aang's doors, the former opened with an annoyed grunt while the latter was half asleep. Once she was done collecting both of their clothes they went back to sleep and she made her way towards her brother's room. Katara knocked and the door almost immediately opened. Sokka poked his head out of the partially opened door and rather rudely asked  
"What?"  
His tone caught Katara off guard and it took her a minute to answer.  
"Do you have any laundry that needs washing?" she looked at her brother's eyes. He didn't look like he had been sleeping and Katara refused to believe that he woke up this early. She raised her eyes and peeped above Sokka's head to see Suki, also awake, sitting at the edge of the bed with a rather upset face.  
"No." Sokka said with the same rude tone before closing his door on her face. Katara would have been offended by this action on any other day and given her brother a piece of her mind. But today she just had a feeling something was going on and opted to not push the matter. 'I'll ask Suki later.' Katara thought as she made her way towards Zuko's room to get his laundry. Since Zuko wasn't in there she let herself in. Katara had noticed a while ago that beside Sokka's underwear Zuko's tunics were the most stinking clothing items in this household. Mostly because he had a ridiculously high body temperature that made him sweat all the time. As Katara picked up the stinking pile of red tunics on the foot of the bed she cursed his high temperature. The Firenation was already hot and it wasn't like all the firebender were paying daily visits to the poles, 'Then what was the meaning of having so much body heat?' she wondered. The only useful purpose Katara could think of was when Zuko was coiled around her providing her with that warmth. 'Oh, that was sooo comfy and so nice....' she stopped this trail of thought immediately. She was NOT going to think about cuddling with Zuko, not again. These types of indecent thoughts have been roaming her mind constantly from last week and she was not going to let that happen again. Katara pushed that thought into a dark corner of her mind and focused on the task at hand. She bent down to gather up all of Zuko's clothes when she saw a shining golden garment shoved underneath his bed. As Katara reached for it the thought occurred to her that she might be invading his privacy. After all she didn't know what purpose this garment served but as soon as her fingers touched it she forgot all her doubts. The cloth was so soft and silky that it was slipping out of her hands. She held it close to her chest to inhale its cinnamonrose scent. This was definitely made of the purest silk available to man and Katara was sure this was the most luxurious thing she has ever touched.

On his way back from the balcony Zuko saw Sokka angrily walking out of his room and an upset Suki hastily following after him. He sincerely hoped that this wasn't a huge deal because he did not want to get involved in this. He had already gotten involved in too many of these uncomfortable situations as it is, giving Sokka dating advice was not something he wanted to add to his list. As Zuko reached his room he assured himself 'Maybe they'll work things out by themselves by the time I come back from my morning run' though he knew that was wishful thinking. When he walked inside his room he saw Katara sitting at the foot of his bed sniffing something. Zuko for a fact knew it wasn't his tunics since no one can stand their smell, not even from a distance. Then he remembered what he had hid under his bed and mentally smacked himself for hiding it in such an easily accessible place. 'Why didn't I hide it properly, you idiot?' Zuko asked himself. He had spent all of last night, after their talk, looking for it and was planning on gifting it to Katara on her approximate birthday. But instead his short-sightedness had ruined the surprise.  
"Zuko!" Katara's startled voice pulled Zuko out of his head "How long have you been standing here?"  
"Not long." he shrugged casually "What are you doing in my room?"  
"I just....came to...." Katara stuttered, looking from the dirty laundry she was supposed to pick up to the silk in her hand. When she saw Zuko eyeing it she got up and handed it back to him.  
"Sorry I didn't mean to intrude." Katara apologised but Zuko brushed it off  
"It's alright." he glanced at the garment then at her before apprehensively asking "Do you....like it?"  
He was unsure if Katara would like his gift but she nodded as if that question didn't even need to be asked.  
"What is it?" Katara's question made a soft smile appear on Zuko's lips as the few good memories of his childhood flooded back to him.  
"It's a shawl. My mother used to wear it whenever we went for an evening stroll along the beach." Katara saw Zuko's fingers unconsciously playing with the garment while he spoke. Zuko noticed her staring and awkwardly added "Beaches can get really....cold in the evening."  
"I've noticed." Katara couldn't stop a soft chuckle from escaping her mouth. "Should I ask why this shawl is tucked under your bed? Or is it too personal?"  
She knew the subject of mothers was a sensitive one for both and she didn't want to force Zuko to say anything he wasn't ready to say.  
"Actually I was going to give it to you." Zuko shifted in his place, hesitantly "I thought you could use it...to, you know....make your belt."  
Katara didn't know how she felt about cutting up Zuko's mom's very expensive shawl and re-stitching it with shells on it.  
"Zuko, I couldn't." Katara said and Zuko had never felt this type of disappointment in his life. He had spent a good 4 hours rampaging through the old dusty storage cupboard looking for this and she wasn't going to accept it. Katara saw his face becoming stiff and tried to explain  
"It belongs to your mother I can't just...."  
"Well, the hair ribbons also belonged to my mother and you were totally fine ripping them apart." Zuko quickly countered, though his words came out meaner than he had intended. He just wanted to tell her that she had already used his mother's belongings and that it was okay and he was happy that someone found a use for them. But instead he ended up making Katara feel horrible.  
"I didn't know. I'm so sorry." she said with a guilt-ridden face and Zuko slapped his own head. 'Get it together, man!' he yelled at himself.  
"That's not what I....you don't need to apologise. It's fine I want you to have it. I brought it out of the storage....in the first place to give it....to you."  
"Really?" Katara seemed surprised and a little unconvinced "Are you sure?"  
"Yes, I....after we talked....I-I just wanted to give you something nice....for you birthday." Zuko gazed at her with convincing, almost pleading eyes. "And I'd rather see it as a belt around your waist than another forgotten dust collecting item in the Firelord's vacation house."  
Katara glanced at the beautiful shimmering shawl in her hand, it just didn't feel right for her to have it. But Zuko affirmatively handed the shawl to her and she couldn't make herself refuse it. Their hands touched for a minute and Zuko felt her fingers firmly holding onto his hand.  
"Why....why are you being so nice to me?" Katara was grateful but also confused "Ever since that day....ever since Yon Rha you've been....abnormally nice. Why?"  
The question caught Zuko off guard. He honestly didn't know why he did the things he did when it came to Katara. In his head he just thought he had to but never even bothered to ask 'why'. Zuko looked up to meet Katara's determined eyes, unwilling to let him go.  
"I don't know....I just..." Zuko muttered, not knowing what to say next "I-I....you were kind to me....when you didn't need to be. You offered to heal my scar and I guess I'm still trying to repay you."  
"Is that why you're doing this? Out of guilt? I forgave you, Zuko. You don't have to keep doing this."  
"It's not out of guilt. I just..." Zuko sounded definite about the first part but didn't know what he wanted to say after that.  
"Just, what?" Katara looked impatiently and Zuko barely whispered  
"Wanted to make you happy."  
"But why?!"  
"Because I think you deserve to be happy. You deserve better than....this life. Aang and Sokka have you to fall back on and....now in a way, even I have you but who do you have? Who do you fall back on when you're having a bad day? No one even notices when you're having a bad day....I don't." Zuko was holding Katara's gaze till now but he couldn't anymore. He felt like he was going to drown if he didn't look away. "You seemed upset last night. I just thought this would make you happy."  
Zuko was annoyed with himself. He didn't know what he did wrong but he was sure he did something wrong. 'Or why else would she be asking so many questions?' he chastised himself, thinking that he might have crossed some lines.  
"It does make me happy. I was just confused." Katara's fingers untangled themselves from Zuko's hand and reached for his face. She touched his sacred side and made him look at her again. She gently caressed the skin below his eyes and Zuko seemed genuinely surprised by this gesture. Not just the touch but the way she was looking at him, the way she said it made her happy, it was all way too intimate and beyond anything he would have expected from a friend. Katara seemed to have also realised how intimate things were getting and promptly removed her hand. Then with a forced, awkward chuckle she said  
"You are so confusing. One minute you're sweet then the next you're grouchy....it's confusing."  
"I am confusing?" Zuko scoffed "Have you met yourself?"  
"See what I'm talking about." Katara nudged him slightly before picking up his clothes. "I've got work to do." she said and then quickly left with her shawl and his laundry. Zuko knew why she was running away and he couldn't really blame her. Their proximity was even making him dizzy and if they had continue standing this close Zuko sworn he'd have done something immensely stupid that he would regret for the rest of his life.

Katara was stupidly grinning while scrubbing the mud off Aang's pants. She wasn't usually this happy cleaning dirty clothes. In fact she had been pretty miserable for a few days now but Zuko's gift had improved her mood exponentially. Every so often he did these unexpectedly nice things that reminded her of the sweet boy who lived inside that prickly guy. She wondered 'What if Zuko had suffered no influence from the Firenation or his father? Would he have been just a sweet thoughtful boy?'. As Katara washed the last few clothes and dreamed about a permanently nicer Zuko she suddenly noticed Toph barging inside the laundry room. Before she could ask any questions, she saw Aang and Zuko also entering and locking the door behind them.  
"What's going on?" Katara was slightly worried now.  
"Sozzles and his warrior, way-out-of-his-league girlfriend are fighting and things are getting very.....personal and....awkward." Toph bitterly informed.  
"I don't know what's going on between them but the tension is just....too uncomfortable." Zuko added.  
"Yeah, it's impossible to stay around them and not get sucked into one of their meaningless fights." Aang agreed "I even tried convincing them to talk things out but then.....things got really.....weird."  
Both Zuko and Toph seemed shocked by Aang's words  
"You're the one who made those two start talking?" Toph asked furiously while Zuko gave Aang an incredulous look.  
"They were blissfully ignoring each other. Why would you make them start talking?"  
"Cause I'm the avatar. It's my duty to bring peaceful resolutions to conflicts." Aang matter-of-factly answered Zuko pinched the bridge of his nose  
"I don't care if you're the Avatar. Never get involved in the middle of someone else's relationship."  
Katara who had no idea what was going on out there looked from one person to another as the three of them continued lamenting.  
"Is it really that bad?" she asked a few minutes later. Katara had seen them in the morning and yes, they seemed upset but she didn't think it was that big of a deal.  
"No, Katara, we're standing here, cramped up in this small space because we think it's fun." Zuko dryly replied and Katara silently hoped 'I wish you were nice all the time'. But before she could give him an appropriate response the smell of something burning hit her nose.  
"Oh, shit!" Zuko cussed "Our breakfast!"  
"Why didn't you put out the fire?!" Katara snapped as she hurried out of the laundry room with her hand still covered in soap.  
"I forgot!" Zuko followed, hot on her heels.  
"How can you forget something like this!?!"  
"Well, your brother and his girlfriend kinda distracted me with their very personal conversation!"  
Katara conjured up some water and with a swift movement of her hand extinguished the fire. While Zuko scrambled to recover whatever unburned food they had left from the upper portion. Once he was done scraping up the food and she was done cleaning up they both turned to see the couple in the sitting room. They were bickering about the necessity of coasters and table mats while blissfully unaware that their kitchen was literally on fire a few minutes ago. Katara would have never guessed her brother had such strong opinions on coasters if she hadn't witnessed this fight for herself.  
"This isn't about the coaster, is it?" Katara tilted her head towards Zuko as Sokka started flailing his arms and Suki huffed loudly.  
"Unless your brother belongs to some intense anti-coaster agency, I don't think so."  
"We have to stop them." Katara tried to make her way towards them but Zuko pulled her back.  
"We are not getting involved in this. They are both almost adults. They can work things out by themselves."  
"Do they look like they can work things out?" Katara incredulously pointed at the couple whose fight was getting pretty heated.  
"I will NOT get involved in this" Zuko sternly stated "And I also advise you to stay away unless....you're overly interested in what goes on in your brother's....bedroom."  
"What do you mean?" Katara fearfully asked.  
"I overheard some....things when I came back from my run and they didn't know I was back. So unless you want to get stuck in a very...very uncomfortable position stay away from them."  
Katara's eyes widened with understanding, she quickly nodded.  
"Okay. Back to the laundry room." she and Zuko then hurriedly escaped to hide till breakfast.  
"Wanna bet who's fault this is?" Zuko asked, leaning on the door of the laundry room.  
"My money's on Sokka, 110 percent." Katara responded as she effortlessly pulled the water out of the washed clothes.  
"You give your brother too little credit. I'd give him 500 out of a 100." 

When the time came for breakfast everyone reluctantly gathered around the table and as expected it was weird. Katara soon realised that the others weren't kidding about the tension. There was constant huffing, at one point Suki swatted Sokka's hand away from her plate and then an argument started about salt and pepper. Meanwhile everyone else shoved the charred tasting food inside their mouth as fast as they could. Katara quietly excused herself and ran to her room while Zuko dragged Aang and Toph out of the house for bending practice before they heard something they weren't supposed to hear. After that Katara spent most of the morning cutting, sizing and measuring the shawl for the belt. She was beyond excited to get started on it and had even planned out in what pattern she was going to embroider with the shells. Zuko insisted on cooking lunch alone today and Katara didn't protest too much. She was far more invested in her belt anyway. They all mutually decided to eat lunch in their rooms to avoid a repeat of breakfast and Zuko conveniently tapped out of the swordbending practice afterwards. Katara went back to her work and she was so engrossed in it that she didn't even realize when the sun went down. Only when her hands started cramping up did she look up and realize that the sky outside her window was getting dark. 'I needed a break and a nice cup of tea' Katara thought before making her way to the kitchen. As she walked down the stairs she heard humming and the smell of baked goods hit her nose. When she peeped into the kitchen she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Zuko was joyously humming to himself whilst trying to take out a tray from the makeshift oven he had built with brick and embers. The song he was humming was very familiar and Katara couldn't stop a wide grin from appearing on her face when she recognized it as a folk song from her tribe. But Zuko must have noticed her prying since he instantly stopped doing what he had been doing and turned around with a face that was redder than the embers.  
"Zukooo..." Katara couldn't resist the urge to tease "...were you singing and….baking?"  
"I was not singing, okay?! I was humming" Zuko rushed to correct "And it's your fault, okay? You got that damned catchy rhythm stuck in my head!"  
His expression was so adorably embarrassed that it only made Katara grin wider as she walked towards him.  
"Is this why you wanted to cook lunch alone because you wanted to set this up?" she asked, examining the oven closely "So that you can bake?" she teased again and Zuko finally admitted aloud.  
"And yes I'm baking."  
Before successfully taking out the tray which was full of small tarts. Katara audibly gulped and he seemed to have noticed the greedy look she was giving the tarts and traded "And I'm willing to share them with you if you don't make fun of me."  
Katara wasn't particularly hungry but they smell sweet and delicious so she nodded, accepting the offer. Zuko handed her a tart and a cup of tea he had been brewing.  
"Why are you baking, suddenly?" Katara asked genuinely while blowing on her still too hot to eat pie.  
"After talking to you last night and today…..how you were talking about your home, the south pole I just kinda….got to me. I also started missing home I guess." Zuko said then quickly added "Not that spirits forsaken palace. Just you know….uncle and mom and Mai."  
"What does….your home have to do with baking?" Katara felt slightly guilty that she made him homesick too.  
"When we were on the ship for the first year I used to get homesick all the time. And uncle used to try to….shove sugar inside me to make me less cranky…." Zuko got interrupted by Katara's loud chuckle.  
"Please continue…" she urged him to continue while somehow trying to suppress her laughter. She couldn't imagine the pain of being stuck with a cranky Zuko on a metal ship surrounded by water and with no escape.  
"I usually did not succumb but….when it came to chilli caramel tarts I just couldn't resist. And Uncle obviously knew that so he arranged these bake-offs with the chef on the ship and made me the judge…." Zuko heard Katara struggling to not crack up again and quickly ended his story "....it was a whole thing. It's not important! Basically this reminds me of him."  
"Well I can see why you couldn't resist these." Katara mumbled as she chewed on her tart. It was sweet but just the right amount of spicy that brought out the sweet even more and though the crust was slightly burned she didn't really mind. Zuko proudly watched her eat then flash his adorable smile when she went to grab another. 

They both leaned on the kitchen counter, merrily sipping tea and eating pastries. Katara's shoulders brushed against Zuko quite a few times, making him hyper aware of how close they were standing. But neither of them felt the need to move. Katara was currently on her fifth tart and showed no signs of slowing down. Zuko had never thought watching a girl eat could be this mesmerizing. The way she chewed with her mouth closed, savoring the taste and the way she licked her lips before taking the next bite and the way she brushed of the crusts from her face and her dress and the way she bow down to take another tart, in the process softly stroking Zuko's shoulder with her wavy brown hair and the way she…. 'Stop it!' Zuko wanted to bang his head on the wall. Everything Katara was doing was making unwanted things happen to him. Ever since that night a week ago he had this unshakable yearning for her hair. No matter how hard he tried he couldn't get the thought of nuzzling his face in that soft brown hair out of his mind.  
"Hey, are you listening?" Katara knocked on his biceps to bring him back to this earth. Though she did keep her hand on his arm long enough for Zuko to take note. This wasn't the first time she had touched him longer than necessary, in fact she did it more often nowadays. Their little touches had increased exponentially since last week and now Katara had even started pinching him sometime. But she hadn't cupped his face again since that day and he was thankful for that since he hasn't yet gotten over the surprise of that.  
"Yeah, yeah, you were saying something about a dance party." Zuko shook his head, in hopes that it would keep his thoughts at bay.  
"Yeah, so we got caught obviously…." Katara continued her story and Zuko continued listening half-heartedly "But before that Sokka and I dressed up as Aang parents and shoved a bunch of clothes inside my belly to look pregnant…"  
'Katara pregnant, wouldn't that be a sight to....' before Zuko could let his imagination run wild the conscious side of his brain yelled 'Dude, get a hold on yourself'  
"...and when we were coming out of the school the clothes started slipping out and I had to somehow grab onto it to prevent it all from falling out in front of everybody. And it was just SO STRESSFUL! I was like I wish I wore a belt underneath to hold it all together."  
"So that's why you want a belt?....so that you can pretend to be pregnant again." Zuko quirked an eyebrow in amusement.  
"That's not the point!" Katara lightly smacked his chest "The point is that I have always needed a belt." she said with a pout and Zuko didn't miss how her hand lingered around his chest.  
They continued chitchating in peace till Sokka's voice came from the staircase.  
"Zuko, can we talk for a minute?"  
"Me? You want to talk to me?" Zuko was already grimacing, this is what he had been fearing all morning.  
"Yes, you. Come on!" Sokka walked toward the door and Zuko really did NOT want to follow him. But Katara nudged him forward and Zuko stared at her with the most betrayed look ever. 'Should have known blood is thicker than chilli caramel tarts' he thought as Sokka closed the main door behind them, locking them outside the house. Zuko sat down on a step with a sigh.  
"So you…know stuff….about girls, right?" Sokka asked whilst sitting down beside him. He seemed uncomfortable but that was nowhere near the amount of discomfort Zuko was feeling.  
"No, no…n-not really. That's the huge misconception."  
"But you had a girlfriend right? You know….how to…."  
"Just cut to the chase." Zuko interrupted, he just wanted this to be over.  
"It's…we are…." Sokka seemed flushed and stuttering at first but then he took a minute to clear his throat and his thoughts "I don't know if you know this but Suki and I have been having some….issues."  
"Yeah? You two have been so subtle that it was impossible to notice." Zuko muttered under his breath.  
"Look, I thought I was doing everything right in….you know…" Sokka gave a suggestive look and Zuko started furiously rubbing his palm on his warm cheeks. "But apparently I'm doing something wrong because she isn't….s-satisfied and….and I don't know what. And today I….realized that she's….f-faking it." Sokka almost whispered the last part and this was the second time one of the watertribe siblings made Zuko pray that the earth opens up and swallows him whole. "And now I don't know what to do. Tell me what to do?"  
"Why are you asking me this!?!" Zuko was incredulous and flustered and embarrassed beyond limits.  
"Because….who else am I supposed to ask!?! I thought you might know something."  
"Why would you think….I don't….Ah, Spirits!" Zuko could not remember what cursed moment you decided to join this group, 'Why do I always end up in these situations!!'. Both them sighed in unity and hopelessness. Zuko tried to collect his thoughts and willed his cheeks to stop blushing.  
"Listen even if I had some divine knowledge about….this, I don't think it can help you." Zuko spoke as genuinely as he could under these circumstances "She is your girlfriend, right?"  
"Yes!" Sokka said somewhat progressively.  
"And I'm guessing you don't have any male ego issues."  
Sokka vehemently shook his head "Dude, my girlfriend is SUKI! I wouldn't be with that girl if I was into toxic masculinity."  
"Well, then…just ask her." Zuko matter-of-factly advised and Sokka's eyes widened.  
"You want me to ask Suki?!"  
"Yes, you're in a relationship with her, not with me! If you guys are having problems just…talk to her, instead of distancing yourself and arguing with her all day." Zuko massaged his forehead once and then with much difficulty said the next words "I mean….I'd assume she can tell you how to….s-satisfy….her better than I can. If you're willing to accept you are doing something wrong and want to improve just….ask. Trust me, she'll tell you. Women have a lot of opinion when it comes to….sex."  
Sokka thoughtfully looked at Zuko for a little but Zuko was unwilling to make eye contact. He stared at the ground, finding the grass and the bricks extremely interesting.  
"Thank, man. Really glad I came to you." Sokka patted his back before walking inside.  
"That makes one of us." Zuko whispered under his breath. He felt traumatized and unable to move. He sat there for a while replaying this conversation and thinking 'What the fuck just happened!?!' 

After waiting a while for Zuko to come back Katara gave up and went back to her room. She wondered if he had finally run away. She even thought about asking Sokka what he and Zuko had talked about. But refrained from doing so when she saw Sokka and Suki's closed door. Katara was worried about Zuko but not so worried that she was willing to risk getting scarred for life. Around 6:30 in the evening Sokka and Suki came to her room, all hand in hand behaving like a perfect couple who didn't spend all day having dumb fights.  
"Hey, Katara!" Suki greeted while Katara stared at her, wide eyed.  
"Here is our laundry you came asking for." Sokka dumped a bunch of their dirty clothes on her floor and Katara's eyes got wider.  
"I came asking for that in the MORNING! I already washed all the clothes, you can't just...." Katara protested but Sookka dismissively waved at her as if she wasn't even there.  
"Also we are going on a date so don't make dinner for us and don't wait up." Sokka grabbed Suki's waist and started walking away.  
"Wait! What?! Where are you even going!?!" Katara seemed utterly confused and slightly crazy.  
"To...the...beach!" Suki scarcely informed before both of them were gone and Katara was left dumbfounded. After a while of complaining about her supremely annoying brother to herself she gathered all his disgustingly stinky clothes from her room's floor and went to deposit it in the laundry room. Of course she wasn't going to wash them today she was just planning on leaving them for Zuko to deal with tomorrow. Katara stumbled downstairs with the load and opened the laundry room door to see a disgruntled Zuko sitting on its floor. He was coiled up in the corner with his head between his legs and a blank expressionless face.  
"Zuko, what's wrong?" Katara crouched down in front of him, she seemed rather worried by his state. Zuko looked up at her with a beet red face though the redness wasn't anger.  
"Your brother....ask for....sex advice....from me..." Zuko took rather long pauses to really let the words settle in. Katara felt her body cringe as she thought about an already awkward Zuko stuck in such an uncomfortable situation. "...and then on his way out a few minutes ago....he felt it necessary to give me an UPDATE....on how the advice pan out and now....I KNOW THINGS! THINGS that I don't want my worst enemies to know..." Zuko broke down in what sounded like a sob and Katara couldn't stop the laughter from exploding out of her. She sat down beside him, holding her stomach and laughing her heart out. She wanted to feel bad for him, she really did but he looked so terrorised like a boy who had just walked in on his parents, it was just hilarious.  
"You are laughing?...." Zuko seemed so offended that Katara was laughing at her trauma. "Yeah, this must be so funny for you. I KNOW THINGS KATARA!!! I know things about your BROTHER'S SEX LIFE!! Of all the people out there, YOUR BROTHER!!" Zuko dug his head between his knees again, covering his ears in the process. "I'd rather be dead." he whispered finally and Katara reached over to grab his face. She pulled his face out of his knees and looked him in the eye. When she first saw Zuko in here she thought his face couldn't get any redder but it did (for a different reason though). Though Katara couldn't wipe off the bright amused smile from her face she said as reassuringly as possible  
"I'm sure it's not that bad, you just have to walk it off. I'm sure you'll eventually move on. "  
"You don't get it, Katara. I know things that they're planning....to do....on the....be-e...a-ach" Zuko voice came out broken and in stutters. "I can never move on from this. It has been engraved in my ears and seared into my brain and imprinted on my imagination....there is no walking it off." His dramatics made another series of giggles escaped Katara's mouth. She just couldn't take Zuko's trauma seriously right now.  
"Just ended it." Zuko requested as he held onto her hands that were still cupping his face. "Shove two icicle daggers in my ears and end this torment."  
"Oh, honey." Katara sitting up on her knees, looks down at Zuko, cradling his face and brushing his shaggy hair off it "You'll live through this, don't worry." she pats his head mockingly while still laughing.  
After a moment of sitting there like that, both Katara and Zuko realized how close they had gotten. Katara at this point was basically sitting on his lap and realising this she staggered backwards. While Zuko recoiled back to the corner of the room again, trying to scrub out another blush from his face. He was confident the watertribe siblings were trying to embarrass him to death today. Neither of them missed how the air around them thickened with this undeniable tension. A tension that has always existed but has never been acknowledged. Partly because they had this unspoken agreement to never acknowledge it. One of them would usually run out of the room, they've done it before and it was the most obvious thing to do right now. But neither of them did, they didn't want to, both were curious how this will pan out. In an attempt to shake off the weirdness Katara tapped Zuko's shoulder with one of Sokka's shirts and said  
"Hey, help me with this, will you?"  
She gestured towards the laundry, thinking that if they go into their routine of doing chores together things will return back to normal. Katara remained uncannily quiet as they scrubbed the clothes while Zuko remained cannily quiet. Neither tried to make any conversations mostly because they didn't know how to. It has been over a month since Zuko has been stiff and awkward around Katara and before she could just turn a blind eye to him but now she felt differently about him, about their situation, about everything. She felt this budding need to fix things between them. Though she knew it wasn't her completely her responsibility she couldn't help but feel partly responsible. Katara didn't want to let everything they had built in the past month to go down the drain. She liked having someone to rely on, someone who could care for her without messing things up for the worst. She liked being able to touch him without having to give an explanation to anyone. She liked seeing him smiling and blushing at her rather than scowling and glaring. She liked having someone who puts her needs and even wants first instead of theirs.  
"Ugh, what is that smell?" Zuko's groan brought Katara out of her thoughts. She knew what he was talking about. She was well familiar with that pungent disgusting odour that reeked like rotten food but also wet leather. Zuko pinched his nostrils close while Katara carefully lifted Suki's red Firenation blouse to reveal Sokka's underwear.  
"How many underwears does your brother exactly own?" Zuko wryly asked, maintaining his distance from that stinking underwear.  
"One. But he says he owns two because he can turn it inside out and wear it." Katara winced at her own words.  
"That is sooo disgusting....not to mention unhygienic." Zuko grimaced in disgust and Katara exclaimed in agreement  
"I know, RIGHT! Thank you for saying that!! It is so UNHYGIENIC!"  
"I don't know what Suki sees in him."  
"He has a certain....charm."  
"Yes, that smell is very charming." Zuko dryly comment as he eyed his underwear "I'm not touching that."  
Katara waterbended that underwear away from him and Zuko finally breathed.  
"I don't care how charming someone is if a piece of their clothing smells like that they aren't getting in my bedroom." Zuko cordially informed before he went back to washing. Katara raised both of her eyebrows and asked with a smile  
"I didn't know you had such strict restrictions for people who are trying to get into your bedroom."  
"Well, frankly, Katara, you don't know much about my bedroom." Zuko cheekily responded and Katara's eyes widened. 'What was he insinuating?' she asked herself as she watched him with a shock expression 'Was he trying to....flirt?'. She kept quiet and saw fear and panic flashing across Zuko's face as he realised that Katara might have taken his words in the wrong way. But before Zuko could explain himself Katara started loudly snorting. She just couldn't handle his cuteness, he tried to be all smug and sly but ended up acting like a complete dork. When she calmed down a little she noticed Zuko observing her.  
"What?"  
Zuko, intensely gazing at her, pointed at the wrinkles on the side of her eyes  
"You look so happy..." he lifted his fingers to lightly graze those wrinkles "...when you laugh like that." he simply said but the words sound so earnest coming from him. Right then Katara realised that she most importantly liked having someone who just wanted to make her happy.

Zuko realised how close he was standing to Katara but he was far too busy drowning in those blue irises to care. He felt like he was in a trance as his thumb grazed her the smooth brown skin of her face and she smiled at him fondly. They had never let things between them go this far before and he didn't really know what came after thi....Zuko suddenly felt a pair of lips pressed against his. His entire body shut down in shock. And before he could think or say or act or even understand what just happened the lips were removed. He heard the laundry room door opening and shutting with breakneck speed. And she was gone. Zuko's eyes became wide and his body remained stunned. 'Did Katara just....kiss...me?' his brain couldn't even begin to process that thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I haven't updated in a while, cause I wasn't really in a mood to write on top of that this chapter was really hard to write and took a while.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoy this one since a lot of effort went into especially this chapter.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during and after the ember island players.
> 
> Very angsty chapter thus it's short cause I'm no good with angst.

Katara tossed around in her bed unable to sleep. It had been a week and she still couldn't stop thinking about his unmoving lips, his stunned expression and his clear disinterest. 'What was I even thinking?' is the question Katara repeatedly asked herself. Rejection stung but the fact that she had destroyed a very meaningful friendship on a whim felt much worse. 'How could I of all people do something like this? How could I've forced myself on him?' are just some of the questions that roamed her mind in the nights. And the anxiety of it all was too much for Katara to get any sleep. As tumultuous as this few days has been for her, she was thankful that things haven't been that weird between them. For the sake of the group and their greater goal Katara hasn't let things get too weird by pretending nothing happened. Yes, she admits it's not a very mature move on her part. But she still hasn't been able to make sense of her action or even the thoughts behind that action yet so how was she expected to talk about it? But that hasn't stopped Zuko from trying to talk to her but she has insisted they had nothing to talk about. And after the first few days of trying he had given up and had been kind to play along with her charade. Of course, their relationship wasn't the same anymore, they still quipped at each other but it wasn't the same as their endearing banters. He didn't smile at her as much as before and they mostly avoided being in each other's personal space but at least no one noticed. Well, almost no one since Toph definitely sensed something was wrong but as of yet she hasn't asked any questions, which again added to Katara's anxiety. Knowing that someone beside her and Zuko knew something was up kept her awake for the rest of the night.

After trying and failing to fall asleep for a few hours Katara decided it was time to start the day. But as luck would have it the moment she walked out of her room she saw a shirtless Zuko in the corridor. He was coming back to his room after meditation Katara assumed but refrained from making any conversation. Neither of them acknowledged the other's existence as they walked past each other. Earlier this week they had realised that ignoring each other when they were alone was easier than an awkward conversation or the constant tiptoeing around each other. So Katara spent the first couple of hours of her day quietly loitering around the house till everyone else woke up. They had breakfast then Aang and Zuko started their daily firebending practice. Sokka and Suki went off to spirits know where while Katara and Toph sat on the steps watching them perform the dancing dragon. She was actually quite amazed by how quickly Aang's firebending had advanced in spite of their initial hiccups. Zuko had turned out to be a pretty good master and even though he kept losing his temper all the time, Katara thought it was exactly the type of fierceness that was needed to teach firebending in such a short period of time. As she observed Aang her eyes slowly drifted off towards Zuko but she immediately forced herself to look away. He was half naked, flexing his muscles and performing firebending. If all Katara wanted to feel for him was indifference this was clearly not the best moment to look at him. Thankfully for her Sokka and Suki showed up to provide some much needed distraction. They had brought a poster of a play about them which Sokka seemed more than excited to go to. Suki, like a supportive partner, encouraged it while Zuko was less than interested in going and Katara was also kind of wary at first. But eventually Sokka wore them all out with his enthusiasm.  
"Come on, this is the type of wacky time wasting nonsense I've been missing." he pleaded and Zuko glanced towards Katara to see if she gave the all clear. Katara kinda nodded, thinking that take might take her mind off the current predicaments she was facing. But what a horrible misconception that was.

The play was awful, to say the least. It was the most atrocious thing they have ever seen and seeing the people of the Firenation clapping when a bunch of children died was honestly terrifying. The walk home was morose and since the resident cheerleader of the group, Katara, was more down than ever there was no one to lift their spirits. This walk was especially awkward for Katara because she basically had no one to talk to. After that mistimed kiss she and Aang were no longer in casual talking terms. Suki and Sokka were far too interested in each other for them to talk to anyone else and obviously Zuko wasn't an option. And since he was sulking Toph was busy giving him support, leaving her all alone. She felt lonely and sad and had no one to blame but herself. She was the one who made the mistake of kissing Zuko and stringing Aang along due to her own indecision. And now she was paying for it. When they reached the house nobody was in a mood to talk. Everyone just scurried to their rooms wanting this day to be over. Not Katara though, she knew the overwhelming regret bubbling inside her wasn't going to let sleep come so easily. Around midnight she found herself standing in the balcony, blankly staring at the ocean. She wanted to be angry at Aang for what he did but how could she chastise him for doing something that she herself had done only a few nights ago. Katara knew that it wasn't his intention to disrespect her. He was still a boy after, he was still learning and she was willing to forgive him for that. But right now she just wanted someone to be angry beside herself. At this point she wasn't even angry at herself; she just felt sorry for herself. Another gust of chilly moisture filled sea breeze caressed her cheeks and it somehow added to her solemnity.  
"It's late. You should get some rest." A raspy, serious voice spoke from the balcony door. Katara reflexively flinched away then turned to give Zuko an annoyed glare.  
"You REALLY need to STOP sneaking up on me!"  
"It's not my fault. I'm naturally stealthy." Zuko shrugged. "Don't stand in the sea breeze for too long....you'll catch a cold." he almost instructed Katara who rolled her eyes.  
"Why do you care?"  
"When have I not cared?"  
"I don't want to argue with you, Zuko." Katara shifted her gaze back to the ocean. She was shocked at how impersonal the word 'Zuko' sounded coming out of her own mouth.  
"Oh, is that what we're doing? Well, then I guess I should be glad at least you're talking to me." Zuko's tone was laser sharp and it only added to Katara's mounting guilt. She knew he was hurt and angry, the scowl he had been sporting for a week now made that very clear. But she just didn't know how angry.  
"I'm sorry, o-okay? I just didn't....want things to be....w-weird." her words came out broken and shaky and she didn't even know why.  
"What's wrong?" Zuko's tone softened, considerably as he inched towards her. He was careful not to come too close but a selfish, carefree side of Katara wanted him to be closer, she wanted to feel his warmth and comfort.  
"Aang kissed me." she suddenly said. Zuko looked up at her, studying her features and expression.  
"And you didn't kiss him back?" he raised an eyebrow when she shook her head. "Why not?"  
"I don't know. I-I...." Katara struggled to get her words out "...don't know. I kissed him once....before the invasion. Back then it felt r-right. Felt like something I was supposed to do but now....I just don't know anymore." she cleared her throat when she felt the words getting stuck to it "With the comet nearly here and the war and...." 'you' "I'm just so....confused."  
"Listen Katara, you don't need Sozin's comet or a war or....some other reason to not like someone....romantically, I mean. You can not like them because you just....don't. That's reason enough." Zuko's voice was compassionate and reassuring and that tender look in his eyes was something Katara hasn't seen in a while. But she could help but wonder "Is that why you don't like me....because you just don't?"  
Zuko slightly shook his head as his face stiffened again. There  
"Do you really want to do this, now? Because I have been trying to talk to you. For six days I have been trying! But you seemed pretty adamant that you didn't want to." his voice was laced with frustration and anger and hurt and something else that she recognised as....hope. But she wasn't sure why he would be hopeful right now.  
"I don't." Katara simply stated in an emotionless tone and heard Zuko sighing. There was a few minutes of tentative silence between them. Katara stared into the distance too afraid of looking at him. She observed the waves crashing onto the beach and washing the sand away. Maybe that is what she had done to Zuko, whipped him away in her own confusion riddled turmoil.  
"We can't go on like this forever, Katara." Zuko sounded more tired than anything else "Sooner or later we have to talk....I NEED to talk, even if you don't want to. I never know where I stand with you and I'm not very good at pretending. I don't know what you've let yourself believe after....but....you're important to me and I want you to know that. I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to but when you are ready just....let me know."  
With those parting words Zuko's footsteps walked away from her. If Katara had thought things couldn't get any worse the higher power managed to prove her wrong. The looming uncertainty of her and Zuko's relationship had taken away her night's sleep and it disturbed her peace at every waking moment. Maybe talking was the solution. 'Maybe they should loop Sokka in so that they can have another therapy session.' Katara shook her head. Okay, now her sleep was talking louder than her brain. She really needed to go to bed.

Next morning Katara woke up from her scarce sleep with a new clarity. She promptly stomped towards the balcony to disrupt Zuko meditation.  
"Say what you have to say."  
Zuko obviously had heard her coming yet still he remained sitting on the floor with his eyes closed and his legs folded. He pried an eye open to see if she was being serious. Katara looked back at him with resolution and he swallowed a lump of his throat before speaking  
"I have only two questions. And whatever you answer I will accept that with finality. No follow up questions, no complaints."  
"Questions away." Katara clenched her jaw as she waited for his queries.  
"Do you regret it?" was Zuko's first question and it caught Katara completely off guard. She was expecting something along the lines of what were you thinking or how could you do that but this was not it.  
"Yes." she briefly answered because it was the truth. She did regret ruining their friendship and bring them to this point. Zuko took a deep breath before asking the second question  
"Do you want me to forget it?"  
"Yes."  
Katara was staring at him but he knew it was useless. Currently it was impossible to read his expressions because he was forcing himself to not react. There was a long drawn out pause that felt like forever. Ultimately Katara broke the silence with a question of her own.  
"Can you....forget it?"  
"You said yes so I will try my best." Zuko's voice was soft, almost a whisper. He gave her a look that she had never seen before and would never see again. She didn't know what that look meant and she never found out. Zuko got up and was ready to leave when Katara called  
"If....if I had meant it would you....would you have r-reciprocate?"  
"Probably not." Zuko's tone was as apathetic as humanly possible. Katara was sure she could hear her heart breaking at those words. "Don't take this the wrong way but you're right. You are confused. And so am I. In these few days I've been thinking a lot about what happens after the war ends. There is one possibility that we will all die and that's....the easiest future. If....we are able to defeat my father I'll have go back home and once I do I will have a lot to figure out." Zuko paused the explanation to think carefully about his next words "Mai betrayed Azula for me and THAT is.....beyond brave. It feels like I'm cheating her if I at least don't try to find out what that means. And....I know I technically ended things with her but that was more forced by the situation than my....want. And you....you have to sort out things with Aang before you start....thinking about hypothetical feelings for me. And I don't think pissing off the avatar before the toughest fight of his life is a very good idea." then Zuko turned around and headed away from Katara "We both, unfortunately, don't have the luxury to be reckless right now." were his final stone cold words for her.  
For the next spirits know how many minutes Katara just stood there, stunned and appalled and....broken. She didn't know why Zuko felt the need to explain but she did know that that explanation made her feel like shit. He could have been kind and left it at 'Probably not' but no, he had to say all of those things. It sounded like he wanted those words to hurt her as bad as they did. It felt less like an explanation and more retribution for all the pain she had caused him, was causing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every comment I got on the last chapter was about the kiss and I don't know if I didn't make it clear enough or something but that wasn't technically a kiss. Katara pecked him and then literally ran out of the room before Zuko could react. 
> 
> Also I'm a big fan of gradual romances where you eventually fall sooo in love that you know you don't even have to say 'I love you'. Your partner just knows. So don't think the pining will be over just yet cause I like to make them suffer ;)


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara has a slight breakdown when Aang leaves but Zuko is there to support her. And they reach a sort of reconciliation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during the first part of the finale.
> 
> I just can't make myself write about fun stuff just before the war. Really sorry about my inabilities but I just can't think of any fun fluff so you get sad fluff. Sorry.....

Zuko sat on the edge of a relatively high hill and watched the rest of the group having a beach party three days before the comet. He was growing increasingly frustrated with the avatar and his unwillingness to fight. His eyes fell on Katara surfing in the ocean, she looked so at home surrounded by her element. Flashes of their last conversation in the balcony suddenly crossed his mind. He felt bad, really bad and even though most of what he had said was true Zuko knew the real reason behind every word he had uttered. He had said those things to hurt her and he had succeeded. Katara has been nothing but estranged to him since their talk. In fact that was the last time they had spoken properly, one on one. Since then the conversations had mostly consisted of shrugs and taunts and other casual and impersonal things. Zuko had made all the efforts to be extra nice to her, to make her comfortable, to show that it wasn't a big deal. Most of it had to do with his guilt that he had knowingly, purposefully hurt someone he cared deeply about. But no matter what he did Katara seemed disinterested in having any kind of relationship with him, even if it's just friendship. She had been snappy and hostile to him all week as if he had done something irredeemably wrong. But he hadn't done anything wrong, she was the one who kissed him, she was the one who complicated this situation, she was the one who told him to forget about it. He was just trying to respect her wish and yet he was the one getting the blunt end of Katara's disdain. Honestly, it angered him, confused him, hurt him. 'Ugh, why are women so confusing! Why can't she just tell me what she feels, like I told her?' Zuko threw his head back and exhaled loudly. Maybe Aang wasn't his only source of frustration but he was the easiest one to blame. Zuko's eyes set on the Avatar carefreely laughing at Sokka's monstrous sand sculpture. He leaped off the cliff and started shooting fireballs at him.

__ __ __

In spite of the rough relationship they have had for the last couple of weeks Katara had to admit she and Zuko did make a good team. Their motions were fluid and fierce as they ran and dodged and fought back against the forces of the 'Melonlord'. She smiled to herself later thinking about how well they worked together which was a surprise considering that they haven't spoken properly since their talk. It was a conscious decision on Katara's part. She had been decidedly salty to Zuko ever since he told her that they didn't have 'the luxury to be reckless.' whatever that was supposed to mean. This instinct to protect herself had taken over her and was fighting back against any affections she held for the scarred prince. But she was also unable to find a confused Zuko, trying to unlock a stuck door knob with all his focus, not cute. So keeping her distance was Katara's best and only option. Though she was finding it increasingly harder when Zuko did sweet things like make tea for her before going for his run. And he even kept it on the table, lidded so that it remains warm for when she wakes up. Katara has noticed how nice he has been to her for the past week, super nice, too nice, unusually nice. She also didn't fail to note the extra efforts he was putting to stir their friendship back to the way it used to be and it made her heart flutter, which was definitely a problem. She just couldn't risk doing something stupid again and screwing things up for the worse. Especially not now, when they have decided to fight the Firelord on the day of the Sozin's comet. They still had to figure out a way to go around Aang's no-kill policy so Katara just found it more convenient to push Zuko away and instead focus on the real issues.

__ __ __

"This isn't a joke Sokka. None of you understand the position I'm in!"  
Aang's screaming startled almost everyone. They were all taken aback by the pacifist, soft-spoken Aang suddenly going into rage mode and put down their dinner to try and reason with him. Katara was obviously the first to assure him  
"Aang we do understand. It's just...."  
"Just what, Katara, what?" Aang yelled again and now that seemed to alarm Zuko since it was rare for Aang to not listen to Katara.  
"We are trying to help." Katara tried again  
"When you figure out the way for me to beat the firelord without taking his life, I'D LOVE TO HEAR IT!"  
Aang started walking away and Katara was about to chase after him when Zuko suddenly and loudly said  
"My father tried to kill me."  
Aang stopped while everyone else jointly turned their gazes from Aang towards Zuko. They all seemed shocked and slightly scared. But Zuko's face remained perfectly still and had no readable emotion as he spoke  
"The last day before I left he shot lightning directly at me. He didn't know I could redirect it."  
"Why are you telling us this?" Katara asked, utterly confused. But Zuko didn't turn to look at her, he had his eyes fixed on Aang.  
"You already know that the Firelord is not beyond killing children....but I want you to know that he isn't even beyond killing his own son. Remember that when you are deciding on whether or not to take his life."  
Aang seemed even more aggregated by this and started stomping away again.  
"Aang, don't walk away from this." Katara tried but Zuko held her back.  
"Let him go. He needs time to sort it out by himself."  
"Sorry, your dad is an asshole." Toph sympathetically commented from the side and Zuko nodded, appreciatively.  
To say that Katara was upset after Aang left would be a major understatement. As the night grew colder everyone finished their meals and slowly went inside the house. Not Katara though, she remained sitting on the porch. She didn't understand why Aang was so conflicted about killing a man who was willing to kill all the innocent people in the Earth Kingdom. And even though Zuko tried, multiple times, to explain she wasn't willing to listen. She wasn't in a mood to listen to anybody really. Inside the house, Zuko quietly stirred a pot of chamomile tea hoping it would calm him down.  
"What's up with her?" Sokka asked Zuko and he seemed puzzled  
"How am I supposed to know?"  
"I just thought you knew." Sokka shrugged and Zuko clenched his fists.  
"Well, you thought wrong." he said as he poured himself a cup of tea. "Why do people always assume he knows stuff about Katara?" he asked as he took a sip of his tea, he could use some calming right now.  
"Okay, sheesh, I was just asking."  
"I think she over-reacting, honestly." Zuko commented "Then again that is what she does, all the time."  
Everyone seemed a little shocked to hear Zuko badmouthing Katara but no one dared to make a remark on it. There was already enough tension as it is no need to increase it unnecessary. They all sat around the living room having scattered conversations and heavy silences till it was late.  
"Does anyone want to go call her inside?" Zuko looked around the room for volunteers.  
"Nah."  
"Nope."  
"Absolutely not." are the answers he got from Sokka, Toph and Suki.  
"Seriously?" Zuko gave them all another heavily disappointed look.  
"Listen buddy, we know how she gets when she is angry. No one wants to willingly walk into a tsunami." Sokka offered an explanation that Zuko was not interested in hearing. He walked outside and towards Katara with a I'll-do-it-myself attitude.  
Katara was furiously biting the inside of her cheek when Zuko reached her.  
"We have a day's worth of travelling to do tomorrow. You need to get some rest." he quietly suggested as he sat down beside her, keeping a good amount of distance between them.  
"Don't tell me what I need." Katara snarled and Zuko sighed, he really didn't have the temperament for this right now.  
"Fine, I NEED some rest. And for that I need you to stop losing your mind."  
"Why are you suddenly so okay with this? Aren't you the first person who is up in arms whenever the Avatar tries to run away?"  
"Katara, we are asking him to do something that goes against everything he was taught, everything he believes in that....is not easy even if it is the right thing to do. He just needs some time, he'll....come back." he explained as calmly as he could.  
"Well, for the sake of the world I hope he takes less time than you."  
Zuko didn't take too kindly to Katara's jab and looked up to glare at her. By this point he was well familiar with her tendency to hurt others when she was hurting. But he neither had the patience or the will to deal with her right now.  
"I know you are frustrated but don't take it out on me. I'm....seriously not in a mood to argue with you today."  
Katara swallowed her next words when she saw how genuinely tired he looked. She had spent so much of the last week being mean to him for saying what he said. But Katara just couldn't find the strength in her to push him away right now. She stared at him for a minute before words started tumbling out of her mouth without her consent  
"He s-screamed at me, Zuko. He scre....screamed at m-me. I have been there for him from day one....every step of the way I supported him and then....t-then he yelled at me as if....it was all my fault, as if I put him in this predicament."  
Zuko scooted, a little towards her and put his hand on her shoulders.  
"He didn't scream at you, he screamed at all of us....."  
"No, no, he didn't." Katara promptly cut him off "He specifically said 'Just what, Katara, what?', I remember....I very, very vividly remember." she looked up at Zuko and he could see her eyes getting watery now "You know I spent months healing him....after what your sister did to him....I spent months. When I first used the spirit water on him, I could feel his life fleeting away....and pulled him back, through sheer willpower I pulled him back. And he yelled at me and walked away from me." then she nodded thrice to herself as if she was trying to make peace with Aang's decision. "And I know he is going through a lot right now but....I was there from day one. I supported him every step of the way and I know I haven't gone on the 'Avatar's journey' but we were in many of the same near death situations as him so.....I had hoped that he would at least hear us out. See where we are coming from after all we are not like Jet, we don't go around killing everyone belonging to the Firenation. I had hoped....that he would show me some of the same understanding that I have shown him....over and over again..." her voice was straining now but she continued "...but, no, what did he do? He just walked out."  
Zuko just stared at her contemplating if he should say anything. What could he possibly say that would make this situation better? He until now he thought she was acting irrational but he had completely forgotten how much more time she had spent with Aang. He was just looking at the situation from his point of view and never took in account the depth behind Katara and Aang's relationship. She had travelled across the world with him. She had left behind her home, her family and repeatedly jumped into danger for him, of course she felt abundant now. And yes, Zuko had formed an amicable friendship with Aang but it was nothing compared to what they had. She loved him, as a friend or something more wasn't Zuko's to tell but she did love him.  
After awhile of silence and contemplation Zuko said, almost like an afterthought  
"Man, they are really ungrateful, aren't they?"  
The question was clearly rhetorical and he wasn't expecting an answer but he heard Katara breath out with intensity  
"Sooo....SO ungrateful!"  
They sat in silence again for the next few minutes before Zuko suddenly asked  
"Wait, you knew Jet?"

__ __ __

Most of the next morning was spent searching the all around house for Aang. Katara screamed his name but deep down she knew she wasn't going to find him. She felt cold, so cold. She hasn't felt this cold ever since she left the south pole. It was as if the chilly wind of last night's air hadn't left her body yet. And that wind was blowing her away, it was blowing her away and she had no control over which way she was going. She just swayed towards whichever way it was taking her. She felt so lost and cold.  
Once they were done searching the house they all gathered around the dinner table.  
"Only if you had stopped him yesterday we wouldn't be in this situation right now." Katara unfairly directed the spite towards Zuko and he was instantly ignited  
"Oh, so this is my fault?"  
"I'm not saying that. I just....if you hadn't let him go...."  
"What was I supposed to do? Tackle him? Lock him in his room and then forced him to fight the firelord?"  
"Guys!" Sokka let out a sigh of warning and Zuko backed away.  
"I don't want to do this with you right now. Besides we still have to check the beach."  
After looking for Aang on the beach and roaming the town all afternoon, Katara still failed to find him. She and Suki headed homewards with their sunken faces and slumped shoulders. As they sluggishly walked back Suki out of nowhere asked  
"Hey, what's going on between you and Zuko?"  
Katara looked at her in surprise. Though there was nothing to be surprised about, lately they haven't exactly been coy. She didn't really think that anyone besides Toph would actually notice it wasn't just a silly fight. 'Maybe she told them' Katara thought then the cogs of her brain started working 'Did Aang and Sokka also know?'  
"What are you talking about?" she tried to act dumb but Suki wasn't buying it.  
"Oh, come on, we know something is going on. The two of you have been acting really weird this week."  
"And by we, you mean?" Katara asked, ignoring Suki's previous question.  
"All the intelligent people in the house have noticed it."  
'Intelligent people' so Katara can cross Sokka out of that list, that leaves Aang and Toph.  
"You and Toph?" she inquired further to see if her assumptions were correct.  
"Yes, well, Toph already knew. She calls it 'the lovers quarrel' but I didn't know if you and Zuko were, uh....like that...." Suki looked apprehensive and Katara was quick to shut it down  
"No, we are not....and REALLY DON'T want to talk about this right now."  
"Ok..." Suki said a little shocked by how heavy-handed Katara was coming on "Is it anything serious? Because you know if he did something to hurt you or anything else....I will kick his ass."  
Katara couldn't help a small smile from spreading on her face at Suki's willingness to protect her.  
"It's nothing like that but....thank you."  
As they reached the courtyard they saw Toph and Zuko already sitting on the porch with disappointed faces that mirrored their own.

__ __ __

When they approached Zuko looked up at them with the tiniest bit of hope but Katara shook her head, crushing his hope. They all sighed in union before Toph asked  
"What now?"  
"Now we wait for Sokka and Appa." Suki replied, sitting down beside her.  
"What if they can't find Aang either?" Toph asked and Suki looked up at Katara and Zuko. But neither of them had any answers to that question. Zuko glanced at Katara through the corner of his eyes, she looked even more agitated than last night. After a while he heard her, rather aggressively saying to the others who were still looking at them  
"We don't know, okay? W-We don't....k-know. The Firelord wins and....the whole world b-burns down! That's....that's what happens I guess."  
Katara seemed exasperated and downright unstable. And though Zuko wanted to calm her down he didn't have the courage to go near her right now. Alarmed by her behaviour everyone else also looked at her and that annoyed her even more. Katara briskly walked up the stairs and inside the house.  
"What's wrong with her?" Toph turned towards Zuko accepting an answer instead all she got was a sigh.  
"I don't know." he responded a beat later.  
"Are you gonna find out?" Suki stared at him expectantly prompting Zuko to raise an eyebrow 'Did they just expect me to deal with all things Katara?' he thought. They did leave him alone last night too with an upset Katara.  
"Why don't you go and find out?" he asked.  
"No, thank you." Suki politely refused, turning her face away from him. Zuko averted his gaze to Toph who also shook her head  
"No one wants the blunt end of Suger queen's misguided anger."  
Zuko glanced at them both incredulously then huffed and walked inside the house alone. But Katara was nowhere to be seen. He looked around and for a moment thought she might have gone to her room but then he heard sniffling noise coming from the kitchen. But she wasn't in the kitchen. Zuko carefully approached the kitchen and found her sitting on the floor, picking up broken pieces of glass.  
"What happened?" he rushed to her side, concerned.  
"The glass....it fell out of my hand." Katara stated, with tears still dripping down her cheeks. Zuko was so concentrated on her face that he didn't notice the blood on her hand until just now.  
"Oh, spirits you're bleeding!"  
"It's fine. I'm fine."  
"No you're not. Go heal yourself! I'll clean this up." Zuko tried to pull her put but Katara resisted and continued picking up the pieces. "Let me do this, Katara. You are hurt." he struggled with her to take over but she just didn't budge.  
"Zuko, leave me. I can do it."  
"Katara, let GO of the broken SHARDS! YOU NEED TO GO HEAL YOURSELF!" Zuko gritted his teeth and growled as quietly as possible. He yanked both of her hands away, applying less force on the injured one.  
"Just....let me do this....this one thing, okay? P-Please...." Katara stared at him with teary eyes and a broken voice "I need to feel some control....I need to know that I h-have some control."  
Zuko let go of her hands and let her clean the mess even if the blood coming out of her hand made his fingers twitch. He knows what it's like to feel that your own life is out of your control, that everything that is happening around is hurling you towards chaos but you just can't do anything about it, you just don't have any agency over it. Losing a sense of control can drive you insane and that is exactly what it was doing to Katara. Once she finished cleaning Zuko gently pulled her to her feet. He dipped her hand inside a bowl of the water and softly washed the blood off then waited for her to heal herself.  
"You know we are supposed to be the level headed, sane ones, right?" Zuko asked as he watched the water glow around her hand.  
"Sorry." Katara quietly whispered.  
"It's alright. We all go crazy sometimes." Zuko leaned on the counter expecting her to talk.  
"I just....I-I just don't know what happens if we don't find him." Katara looked at him a hopeless expression "Not only will we lose the war so many....so many i-innocent Earth Kingdomers will die." Katara sighed into her palms. She couldn't believe after all the efforts they made to be prepared for this very moment, THIS is where they ended up. She looked up at Zuko who seemed to be in his thoughtful mode. A minute or two later he spoke again in this heavy, serious voice  
"You know my uncle once said that when the tunnel looks dark and you....can't see the lights at the end of it, you must keep walking. And if you keep walking you....you will..." he stammered then paused making Katara curious  
"You will, what?"  
"Shit, I forgot." Zuko grimaced and she just shook her head. "I should have really listened to uncle more." he introspectively said. "I remember that....you will reach some place. I just don't remember what place. Basically the point was that don't give up and keep walki...." he suddenly heard chuckling and turned to see Katara barely containing her laughter.  
"You're literally the worst at giving advice." she said with a chuckle that made Zuko smile.  
"I really am."  
After Katara was done chuckling she asked on a more somber note  
"Do you really think he is going to come back?"  
"Do you remember that one time back, when we were still living in the western temple, we beat the shit out of Aang for refusing to fight back?" Katara made a 'mhhm' noise in response and Zuko continued "Remember what he said? He promised to not run away again because he cared about us, because he loved us. And....even back then I believed him and I don't believe people that easily."  
"I know." Katara said, knowingly.  
"Look Katara, I don't know where he is but we will find him if he doesn't come back."  
"When did you start believing in...." Katara did an impression of Zuko's voice before saying "the Avatar so much?"  
A poor impression according to Zuko but he laughed nonetheless, mostly because talking to Katara hasn't been this easy for so long now.  
"I guess your faith in him is infectious."  
Katara remained quiet for a little, she looked at Zuko with regret plastered on her face. She came and stood beside him, keeping her palms on the counter so she could lean against it. Their hands touched briefly and Zuko looked up at her.  
"Thank you, Zuko. I know I had no right to unload on you, not yesterday, not today....not after how I behaved. So thank you for being here in spite of all of that. I'm so so sorr...."  
"You don't have to, Katara." Zuko said, interrupting her. He didn't need her apology nor did he need her to be grateful. He just needed her to be okay. "I get it. You freaked out and ran away....I do that all the time. But you already know that....you've experience." he was talking about the catacombs and that earned a chuckle from Katara "We have been through worse and we'll get through this too....I think we'll be okay."  
He quietly carenessed her hand and didn't exactly know when but he must have pulled her into a hug because she was currently clinging onto his shoulders. He hugged her back with a smile that showed his relief. And finally after a long, cold day Katara felt warm again.  
"We should probably go outside." Zuko said, breaking away from the hug. "Leaving them alone for more than 5 minutes gives me anxiety."  
Katara let out a small chuckle before walking outside with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I first started writing this fic because, I obviously love Zutara and love writing about it but also I want to practice my writing and hopefully, HOPEFULLY improve it. And for that purpose I kinda put some restrictions on myself and one of those restrictions was that I wouldn't stray too far away from the canon unless necessary. Because I think all of us can pretend that the last kiss didn't happen or that comics don't exist but I don't want to pretend. I want to incorporate those things and still make it a Zutara story. 
> 
> So please bear with me if it's a really slow burn or if you think that the characters are going backwards on their progress because there's sooo, sooo much cute fluff waiting on the other side. And I'm mindful to give enough Zutara moments even when they are angsty to make reading it worth it. 
> 
> And thank you so much for all kudos and the comments. Especially people who comment on every chapter THANK YOU, seeing your user names makes me so giddy.


	18. Chapter 18

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko and Katara relationship starts returning to normal. Zuko thinks about the future and Katara is scared about facing Azula.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set during the 2nd part of the finale.
> 
> I don't know if you guys have read the lost adventures comic but a did add a moment from Bumi vs Toph, round one. If you haven't read it no problem just leave that paragraph out. It's not important, it was just fun writing it.

Katara and Zuko both simultaneously rolled their eyes as they watched Sokka's antics  
"Get out of the bison's mouth, Sokka! We have a real problem here. Aang is nowhere to be found and the comet is only two days away."  
Zuko sighed, he knew Aang couldn't have gone too far without Appa. But they couldn't roam around blindly looking for him. They needed a road map or at least a rough idea of what area they were supposed to search.  
"What should we do, Zuko?" Katara asked as everyone looked up at Zuko for guidance. Though he seemed confused by it.  
"I don't know. Why are you all looking at me?"  
"Well you are kind of the expert on tracking Aang." Katara shrugged and Toph agreed  
"Yeah if anyone's got experience on hunting the avatar, it's you."  
Zuko nodded. He did tell Katara that they'll find Aang so of course, she expected him to do something. He was still deciding on where to go as he got up and commanded  
"Okay, fine, let's pack. We need to get going as soon as possible."  
Everybody got up to go inside the house but Katara stopped in her tracks when she saw Sokka covered in Appa's saliva was also following them inside.  
"You can't get inside the house like that." Katara gave her brother a disgusted look.  
"Sure I can." Sokka brushed her off and continued onwards while Katara looked towards Zuko for support.  
"Zuko, say something!"  
"Listen to whatever Katara is saying." Zuko waved, dismissively without bothering to turn around. He was still trying to figure out the most efficient way to find the avatar.  
"Go wash yourself in the ocean first then come inside." Katara ordered, pointing at all the drool dripping off Sokka. But Sokka didn't seem to care about what his nosy sister had to say.  
"What if I don't listen to her?" he challenged and now Zuko turned around. He took a dangerous step forward and raised an eyebrow  
"What did you say?" he didn't have the patience nor the time for this nonsense.  
"Nothing." Sokka shook his head "I'll go to the ocean." he said before running off.  
Zuko exhaled, lowering his intimidation facade once Sokka was gone. He looked to his side and noticed Katara grinning triumphantly and smiled at this stupid siblings rivalry. They had such an easy and simple relationship. Even though they got on each other's nerves all the time it never affected their love. Honestly, Zuko sometimes envied their bond, he never had anything remotely close to this with Azula.  
They went inside and Zuko and Katara gathered up all the essential stuff they'd require during their travels while others stuffed useless things inside their bags. They bumped into each other a few times as brigaded around the house looking for things and their hands brushed often as they reached for the same thing at the same time. Their coordination was a bit off since they haven't worked together or even been in close vicinity of each other for a while now. And they weren't the only ones who picked up on this. Zuko had noticed Toph smiling slyly whenever his and Katara's hands accidentally brushed against each other and he was growing suspicious of her motives. He truly hoped that she hadn't assumed anything or else this situation was bound to get more awkward and Zuko REALLY didn't want things between him and Katara to get weird again.  
"Ah....I'm so happy you two got back together." Toph commented as she watched them packing together. Zuko immediately looked up, choking on his spit.  
"What?!"  
"What she MEANT....was that we are glad you two have....worked things out." Suki quickly corrected and Zuko seemed to ease up a little before Toph added  
"Yeah, we are sooo glad that your lover's quarrel is over."  
Suki nudged Toph for saying that while Zuko tensed up again  
"Wha....what quarrel?"  
"Nothing!! Nothing!" Katara almost yelled, swatting Zuko away and started packing the bag by herself. Zuko was a bit offended that he was booted out and Katara was now reorganising his packing, 'properly' this time.  
"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm sure you two will get used to packing things together." Toph supportively said to Zuko who leaned towards Katara and whispered  
"What is she insinuating?"  
"It's a trap. Don't engage." Katara whispered back. She was well aware that Toph knew far more than she was supposed to and that this was one of her schemes to make them say something that they didn't intend on saying out loud. But Katara wasn't going to fall for it. She wasn't going to let Toph succeed on her watch. She glared at Zuko and mouthed a 'shut up' as Toph continued saying other provocative things. Once they were done packing and Sokka came back Toph finally stopped, much to Zuko's relief. Then they at long last left to look for Aang.  
__ __ __

Standing outside the walls of Ba Sing Se gave Zuko an unnerving feeling. This is where he had betrayed his uncle and this is where he was going to meet him again. Though he wasn't sure if his uncle would want to see him again. After all he was the reason his uncle had to rot in the prison for all those days. All the guilt and regret that he had kept buried away for months now came bubbling back to the surface. Zuko tried his best to suppress these anxious thoughts as they made camp (which was basically them sleeping on Appa's fur). He needed rest but the more he thought about sleeping the harder it got to actually sleep. The fact that Katara was sleeping right next to him wasn't helping his cause. Everytime he opened his eyes they started tracing her wavy brown hair that kept falling on her face as she huffed. Her closed eye lashes were so thick and her face looked so beautiful in the moonlight and....and....'Go To Sleep!' Zuko was tired of having to yell at himself. He closed his eyes and turned around, realising how counterproductive looking at Katara was. He could try to sleep next to someone else but Sokka and Suki had as usual paired off and he didn't want to be a third wheel. Toph, on the other hand, preferred sleeping on the ground and Zuko would rather sleep on soft fur than on rocks. And even Momo's company wasn't an option today. He laid awake thinking where his life had gotten that now he was begging for a lemur's company to escape his yearning for a beautiful, young woman who his honor prevented him to be with. He had so much to deal with, so many relations to sort through, he couldn't just pull Katara into his mess especially when their future was clouded in uncertainty.  
"Hey, Zuko....you awake?" Katara asked in a hush voice.  
'Speak of the devil' Zuko thought as he nodded.  
"I can't sleep either. Just thinking about Aang....what do you think that June lady meant when she said he didn't exist?" Katara wondered out loud, she sounded pretty concerned but Zuko wasn't really in the mood to console her about Aang right now.  
"I don't know." Zuko answered, briefly as he bitterly thought 'of course she is thinking about Aang'. He didn't know where that bitterness came from because he was also pretty worried about Aang. But for some reason knowing that Katara was thinking about him instead of sleeping made him feel like that little boy fighting with Azula for their father's affection. And that was DEFINITELY not the type of relationship he had with Katara and Aang.  
"Do you think this is going to work?" Katara's question pulled Zuko out of his mind.  
"Huh?"  
"Do you think your uncle will be able to defeat the Firelord?"  
"I wouldn't have brought you all here if I didn't think he could defeat Ozai." Zuko reassured "I have seen uncle fight and trust me when I say he is....a total badass. He'll kick Ozai's pathetic ass in no time."  
Katara smiled at how confident Zuko sounded, hearing him gush about his uncle was the cutest thing ever.  
"Have you ever thought about what happens after? If we win....what will you do afterwards?"  
Zuko turned around and saw big, blue eyes staring directly at him. Whatever sleep he had in his eyes disappeared immediately. Katara seemed to be in a chatty mood tonight and Zuko wasn't that opposed to a deep late night conversation. It has been a while since they have talked but since it was with Katara he was a bit wary at first.  
"I don't know really. I haven't really given it that much thought. I guess once uncle becomes the Firelord I'll just....hang out." Zuko had really never thought about what comes after. The uncertainty of it all prevented him from thinking too far in the future. He just knew he'll return home 'but....then what?'.  
"Do you think your uncle would be a good Firelord?" Katara blurted out before realising how rude that question sounded, especially to Zuko who loved his uncle so much. And then she scrambled to fix it "I don't mean to offend or anything....I don't know your uncle very well and he seems like a nice guy and Toph likes him which is rare but...." she bit her lips, hesitantly "but he was one of the Firenation army generals and he's also called the dragon of the west so....do you really think he'll be able to change the Firenation, convince them to work with the other nations?"  
"Yeah you really don't know my uncle." Zuko chuckled, thinking of the nation his uncle would build. "If it was up to him everyday would be national tea day and everyone would be playing Pai sho all morning and tsungi horns all evening. Firenation would have been a very different place if uncle sat on the throne like he was supposed to."  
"Well, that sounds like a Firenation I'd have liked to stay in." Katara said, looking up at the sky "Maybe, we could build it together."  
'Together?' Zuko thought, it definitely didn't mean what he wanted it to mean but still her hopeful tone made him smile.  
"Maybe," he said, observing Katara and thinking about a future where they were together. The future always seemed so dark and gloomy to Zuko. But this future, the one Katara was talking about, where they worked together to build a better world for their children almost gave him something to look forward to. Suddenly, the unpredictable future didn't sound so bad anymore. It was full of chances and choices and possibilities.  
"And what part will you play in this new nation, filled with tea and tsungi horns?"  
"I don't know....I'll help him out with policies and stuff or world peace or....whatever. Or maybe open a bakery, we'll see." Zuko shrugged as he also turned towards the dark blue sky and blinking stars. The vastness of the endless sky made him feel so little. He was still young, there was no need to think about the future yet. If he survived this he'll have plenty of time to decide.  
"Bakery? You?" Katara laughed and it seemed to have offended Zuko.  
"I baked for you and you seemed like it very much, considering you ate the entire tray."  
"I didn't eat the entire tray!" Katara protested "And besides you need other skills to run a bakery like customer services. No one gonna by pastries from a scowling, angsty teenager with rude behaviour."  
"I don't scowl all the time and I'm not THAT angsty....and it's not my fault if they can't distinguish the difference between honesty and rudeness."  
"It might help your cause if you weren't so BRUTALLY honest all the time. You made Sokka cry last week." Katara's accusing words made Zuko scoff  
"He was overreacting, okay? All I said was that his sword had a stupid name. And I stand by that statement, it DOES have a stupid name."  
"Why would you say that?" Katara smacked his arm "You know how sensitive he is about his space-sword."  
Zuko rolled his eyes in response.  
"He is sensitive about his boomerang, his sword, his maps, his plans, his meat, his girlfriend....he is sensitive about literally everything. Sorry if I'm unable to keep his ever expanding list."  
"Well, because of YOUR inability I was forced to listen to his whining for two hours."  
"Well, if you think I'm so incapable why didn't you help me out?" Zuko turned towards her with questioning eyes. Katara knew he had been doing most of the work for the last week while she was busy being immature and salty to him. But she wasn't going to admit that in front of him.  
"Because....it was your turn....to watch them." she apprehensively said and Zuko raised an eyebrow  
"When did we decide on taking turns?"  
Once again Katara was lacking words. They hadn't really decided anything or even talked civilly for a while now. And Zuko knew he had the upper hand here since he had been the responsible parent for the last two weeks now. He stared at her waiting for an answer which came after a long wait.  
"When we had our....mutual... disagreement."  
"Is that what we are calling you unnecessary being mean to me without giving me an explanation?" Zuko still had his brows raised but a smirk slowly started appearing on his lips. Katara smacked him again, on his chest this time, before ordering  
"Go to sleep."  
"You know you still didn't get an explanation for your insufferable behaviour last week?" Zuko quipped, persistently but Katara wasn't having it.  
"And you will never get any explanations." she turned away from him and closed her eyes. Zuko also backed away, happily. It was nice to banter like this again.  
__ __ __

After apologising to his uncle Zuko felt like pounds of guilt and regret, weighing on his chest for several months, had been lifted. He was finally free of all those agonizing thoughts that haunted him every night since he left Ba Sing Se. Zuko felt lighter and freer than ever as he sat in his uncle's tent, meditating when Katara's voice floating inside  
"Hey, how did things go with your uncle?"  
Zuko opened only one of his eyes to peek at her. She gave him an apologetic smile when she realised he was mediating.  
"Excellently."  
"So he forgave you?"  
"Yeah, actually he forgave me almost instantly." Zuko said, still in disbelief of how quickly his uncle embraced him, forgetting about all his mistakes. Katara sighed in relief at his words, as if she was the one who had trouble sleeping for all these months.  
"You can come in, you know." Zuko remarked when he saw that she only had her head in and the rest of her body was outside the tent.  
"I don't want to intrude."  
"It's fine. You're not intruding." Zuko reassured but Katara still seemed apprehensive.  
"Are you sure I'm not disrupting a moment between you and you uncle?"  
"Uncle is busy playing Pai sho with Jeong Jeong. And besides we had our moments, it involved lots of tears." Zuko assured her again and this time Katara listened. She walked inside and looked at Zuko's face in faux disbelief.  
"You cried?"  
"Yes, of course I cried. I'm not some emotionless jerk." Zuko boldly admitted, something like this might have embarrassed him once but not anymore.  
"Uh....I wouldn't be so confident about the jerk part."  
He nudged Katara's shoulder for that comment but she just chuckled. Before they could talk about anything serious they felt the ground underneath their feets shaking. They both looked at each other in disarray, thinking that they might be under attack. But then they heard the maniacal laughters of King Bhumi and Toph followed by loud cheering from Sokka and shook their heads with the so-done-with-this-shit expressions.  
"How much are you willing to bet that this is not your brother's doing?" Zuko asked as the noises of rumbling and crashing rocks came from behind them.  
"Not much. I have full confidence on Sokka's ability to cause public nuisance." Katara dryly replied as they walked out of the tent to find the source of this hassle.  
Outside King Bhumi and Toph were having an earthbending competition which was overseen and judged by a blue and a red figure, standing safely on top of a hill. Katara and Zuko exchange an exasperated look before she sturdily stomped towards her brother and his girlfriend to scold them. While he went to stop the two earthbender from shattering the ground they were camping on.  
__ __ __

Zuko blankly stared at his food as Sokka Suki and Toph made plans to take down the Firenation air fleets. Ever since his uncle told him that he had to become the next firelord he found it hard to move. 'So much for opening a bakery' he bitterly thought as all the aspirations he had about his unknown future burned down. Now he could clearly see his future. He had never before imagined himself wearing that crown, even when he was the crowned prince. But now that he was seeing it so vividly in his mind, the image terrified him. This was his greatest fear, the nightmare he had seen so many times since he had left the palace….becoming his father. And becoming the Firelord seemed to be the first step towards his inevitable fate. It was odd, to say the least, to think that he'll be the Firelord, if he defeats Azula, that is. 'IF!!' Zuko's brain yelled, jeering him back to the present. Defeating a comet boosted Azula was the more pressing matter right now, he can worry about the firelordy stuff once they win.  
"Fighting Azula wouldn't be easy." Zuko said, looking up at Katara. She had agreed to help him take her down but she had never faced his sister one on one before. She had no idea the scope of danger she was going to face and Zuko thought it was his duty to warn her. "She is...."  
"Dangerous." Katara completed, cutting him off "I know. She has blue flame and lightning and she is murderous. I'm well aware, Zuko, you don't have to keep warning me."  
Her dismissive words only confirmed Zuko fears. Katara might be a master waterbender but she didn't know the first thing about fighting Azula.  
"She is not dangerous because she has blue flames or lightning. She is dangerous because she can read people....understand their emotions better than they themselves can. And she uses that understanding to manipulate you, exploit your weaknesses, create doubt and mistrust. She makes you do things....things that you would never do in any other circumstances and THAT is what makes Azula dangerous." Zuko's tone was stern and slightly harsh and it made Katara rethink her entire approach to this fight.  
"He is right." Sokka said, suddenly speaking up in Zuko's support "On the day of the invasion I faced her and I....I knew she was toying with me but I still kept playing her game. She says things....to mess with your head. It's cruel and vicious but she is very good at it."  
Hearing her own brother say these things about the Firenation princess wasn't helping Katara's growing fear. And if Zuko and Sokka's warnings weren't enough Suki also joined in.  
"Yeah, when I fought her she mocked me and....honestly, I don't know what she did but she made me forget the first thing they teach us, Kyoshi Warriors. Instead of defending and redirecting I went for the attack and....well, ended up in prison."  
A morbid silence followed Suki's words. Zuko stared at Katara hoping to get a reaction but she just sat there in utter silence .  
"Well, Sugarqueen, you better be careful. Sparky's sister is one hell of a mindbender." Toph was the one to give the last warning before she, Sokka, Suki left for their mission.  
Once they were gone Katara took a deep breath and tried to concentrate herself. She knew fearing Azula won't help her win this fight but practicing her bending just might. So she went to refill her water pouch and practice some last minute moves. After seeing Katara furiously practicing her waterbending Zuko realised that instead of cautioning her he might have freaked her out. He stood a few feets away from her, watching her whilst also thinking what he should say to calm the nerves he unknowingly created. Zuko couldn't help but gawk at Katara's bending, her body movements were immaculate and hand gestures were just as perfect. She looked so focused and determined but also mildly shaky, though her fears were barely noticeable when she was bending. He was having a hard time tearing his eyes away from her and actually thinking about what to say.  
"She is quite good, isn't she?" a voice asked, startling Zuko out of his trance. He turned around to see his uncle standing behind them.  
"Yes, she definitely is." Zuko nodded and turned his gaze back to Katara as if found it impossible to look away from her right now.  
"May I ask why you are standing here staring at Miss Katara? You know nephew, leering at women is usually frowned upon."  
Iroh's words finally made Zuko turn his eyes away from Katara, immediately and permanently.  
"I wasn't LEERING!!" he spat out, in record speed. "I was....gathering up the courage to go talk to her."  
"And why is it that you need courage to talk to this sweet young lady, nephew?" Iroh wriggled his brows and Zuko didn't miss his uncle's insinuating tone. But he preferred to shrug it off than address it.  
"I think I might have scared her with my long rambling about...."  
"Azula?"  
"Mhhm"  
"She is a very talented young woman. I think she is more than capable of holding her ground." Iroh said as Katara swirled a ball of water in hand then expertly turned it into splinters of ice.  
"I know..." Zuko just grunted "I'm just worried."  
"About you or about her?"  
That question was a trap and Zuko knew it. 'Why were people trying to trap him today?' he thought as he went for the most neutral and short answer.  
"Both."  
"As long as you two are together I wouldn't worry too much. Fire and water together can be quite a formidable force. If you two can trust each other with your lives then I think you'll make such a team that even Azula will find hard to defeat." Iroh seemed so sure and positive today that Zuko didn't want to argue with him. But he couldn't stop an irking question from escaping.  
"But how is that possible....aren't we supposed to be opposites?"  
"Well, you know what they say, opposite attract. Now I would tell you the thrilling tale of my first date with your aunt..."  
'Oh, no!' Zuko thought as his eyes widened in terror. He really wasn't in the mindset to hear a detailed, sappy story about how his uncle fell in love.  
"...but I'm afraid it's almost time for you to leave. It takes quite a while to reach the Firenation capital and the story isn't exactly small." Iroh's next words made Zuko sigh in relief.  
"Oh, thank Agni." he whispered under his breath and his uncle took great offence  
"I heard that." he said before glancing at Katara "Go talk to her."  
Zuko, following his uncle's words, walked towards Katara though she was engrossed in training that she didn't even notice.  
"Hey, Katara...." he called, trying his best to not startled her. When Katara turned around he stammered out some words he had been preparing to say though he didn't at all come off as prepared.  
"What I said....my intention wasn't....I didn't mean to scare you."  
"Well, you did a horrible job." Katara dryly said as Zuko's head fell down in self-disappointment. "What do you think you sister will say, to throw us off our game?"  
"I don't know, could be a number of things....Azula is known to be crafty." Zuko looked up at Katara again. She looked tensed as she put the water, she was bending with, back in her pouch.  
"Do you think she'll try to pit us against each other?" she asked, rubbing her palms together tentatively.  
"Is that what you're afraid of?"  
"What if she says something that...."  
"Turns me against you?" Zuko asked, matter-of-factly whilst also finishing her sentence.  
"I'm not doubting your loyalty. I'm just...." Katara hurriedly defended but Zuko cut her off from speaking any further.  
"I don't blame you from thinking that way. I did betray you once and....Azula can be persuasive." Zuko tried to sound as sincere and non-offended as possible, after all he had to take responsibility for his past actions. But it was hard to not feel slightly hurt that Katara thought he would betray her, the first chance he got, after everything that they had been through together. But he looked past his petty feelings and stared at Katara, there was something she need to hear before they head to battle  
"I just want you to know that….even if you can't trust me with your life I trust you. I trust you with all my life and I will never do anything to hurt you….ever again, no matter the temptations or the consequences. And promise I will never let Azula or….anything harm you, including myself."  
Katara studied Zuko's face as he spoke. He looked so earnest and his words were so genuine that she couldn't stop herself from believing him. Katara opened her mouth to say something but before she could Iroh called for them  
"Prince Zuko, Miss Katara, I apologize for the intrusion but you two need to get going if you want to reach before Azula is crowned the Firelord."  
Both of them gave a quick bow to general Iroh before hurrying towards Appa.


	19. Chapter 19

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Katara and Zuko try to infiltrated into the royal palace and stop Azula's coronation. Zuko seems out of it and Katara can't not figure out why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just think that it was kinda weird how easily Zuko and Katara just flew into the Firenation palace on a giant bison without anybody stopping them. So I added some realistic explanation of how they got in.

It took them 15 hours of travelling, including bathroom breaks, to reach the Firenation on Appa. Katara was just waking up from a power nap as they neared the capital city. The sky was glowing orange now and they could see the vague outline of the comet in the far east. Katara thought it was quite beautiful in spite of its nefarious use. Zuko had been awake for more than 18 hours now though he didn't show any signs of exhaustion. Katara observed with intrigue that he looked more energetic than ever and unlike her he hadn't even taken any naps. She guessed it was because of the comet but there was no way for her to be certain since Zuko hasn't looked at her since they left Ba Sing Se. He seemed laser focused on the ground and Katara wasn't exactly sure why. She rubbed her eyes to clear her vision before also looking down to see what was so interesting. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the view of the Firenation capital. The entire city beneath them looked like it was on fire.  
"What's happening down there?" Katara's panic-stricken voice made Zuko turn around. He chuckled after seeing her horrified expression.  
"Nothing. They are just flexing, enjoying the power the comet is giving them. A firebender has not felt this type of power in hundred years and they won't feel it for another hundred."  
"Well, it looks like they are trying to burn down the entire city." Katara was still staring down, she couldn't see the people bending but she did see the powerful flares of fire that kept travelling upwards from the ground in abrupt flashes.  
"You need not worry. Most of our housings and other public properties are immune to fire."  
"Really?" Katara wasn't sure if Zuko was joking but he seemed quite serious.  
"Yeah, you don't build flammable properties in a nation where children can literally play with fire." Zuko said, as if it was the most obvious thing ever and on second thought Katara realised it probably was. If Zuko and Azula's tempers were anything to go by, Firenation's children weren't exactly well adjusted individuals.  
"Well, if you're not worried about your country burning down then what are you looking at?" Katara asked, seeing that Zuko had turned his gaze back towards the ground.  
Zuko didn't answer her question, he was clearly not paying her any attention. And Katara was getting a little annoyed by it.  
"You've been staring down for the last hour.... What are you looking at?.... Zuko?"  
"Ahh...." Zuko let out a sigh of annoyance before finally answering "I'm looking for a good place to land. Could you stay quiet for...."  
"I thought we were landing inside the palace." Katara disobeyed his request before he could even finish making it.  
"And how are you exactly planning on getting inside without being roasted alive?" Zuko then took a very deep breath to calm himself before turning around to elaborate "It's a coronation, Katara, the entire palace security will be on full alert.... And then there's the Dai Li. We can't just fly into the royal palace on a giant bison and expect them to no one notice. The moment we enter the palace walls they'll throw fireballs at us and I'm sure Appa wouldn't appreciate that." Appa growled in Zuko's support. Katara was so focused on fighting Azula that she had completely forgotten about the other obstacles they will have to face before they can even get to the fire princess.  
"So what's your plan?" Katara asked as they flew around the Firenation palace that was located within a dormant volcano peak, with crescents of that black mountain surrounding it like a wall. Zuko didn't reply right away, he was busy squinting at something. After a minute or two he said  
"Our first step is to land somewhere secluded near the palace walls.....like that place." he pointed toward whatever he had been squinting at, before stirring Appa downwards. "Once we land we'll have to take out the exterior security on the walls. You take the left, I'll take the right, we meet in the middle. After that we'll disable the communication centre so that the interior security and the Dai lee doesn't know we are coming." Zuko explained the entire plan without once directly looking at Katara.  
She didn't know what was suddenly causing Zuko to be so distant. 'Did I do something wrong or say something wrong? Or was this some kind of a side effect of comet? Or did it have something to do with Azula?' plenty of questions floated into her head but before she could ask any they heard the loud thud that indicated Appa's landing. Katara looked around, as they dismounted their favourite flying bison, and realized that they had landed at the base of an abandoned watch tower, located just behind the palace walls. From the top of this tower the royal palace was just a long leap away, a leap that should be relatively easy for both powerful benders to perform. Katara already had her game face on as they discretely climbed to the top. Once there she uncorked her pouch and started making her way leftward but before she could bend a firm hand grabbed her elbow. She turned to face an unusual vulnerable Zuko. This wasn't how he was supposed to look before the toughest fight of his life. 'Where was his signature scowl?' Katara wondered. This was not the overconfident, scary Zuko that she and her friends used to run away from, no, this was a completely different man. A man who was afraid and a man who had something to lose, or rather someone. Now Katara knew exactly why he refused to look at her till now.  
"We have to be careful and stealthy. Don't make any fuss that can attract attention." were the words that came out of his mouth though his eyes spoke a different story. Katara pierced into his golden irises that were touched with embers but before she could understand Zuko's unspoken words, he spoke  
"Stay alive."  
Two simple brief words that left Katara with a lingering feeling and a need to say more. There was so much she could say, so much she shouldn't say, so much she wanted to say. But by the time she decided on what to say she saw fire igniting Zuko's heels as he jumped off the tower. Jets of fire sprayed out of his feet, providing him with the acceleration he needed to get onto the palace walls. 

Katara gave him one last longing look that contained emotions that she herself was yet to understand. Then she bended an ice bridge and skidded on it to reach the walls. She started running left and soon enough saw three Firenation guards charging towards her. In one swift motion she conjured a water whip that entangled itself to the first guard's legs pulling him down before he could shoot fire at her. While that guard tried to free himself from Katara's hold she froze the hands and legs of the other two guards fixing them in their place. Four more guards approached from the left and before she could bend she saw raging fire coming towards her. She raised an ice shield but it wasn't enough against four juiced-up firebenders. The intensity and volume of their fire was also much higher than what she had come to expect and it was melting the ice twice as fast. Katara knew it wasn't going to hold and with only half pouch of the water left she was running out of options. She extracted all the water from her pouch and her surroundings then got into her bending position before retracting the ice shield. The firebenders momentarily paused to give her a look of astonishment, as if they thought she had lost her mind before attacking again. But this time she was ready, she copied Zuko action and used the retracted water from her shield to create water jets that launched her into the air. Then using all the water she had gathered up Katara, mid air, made several smaller water tentacles that latched onto the hands and legs of the guards, binding them and incapacitating their bending abilities. When she got down all the guards were on the ground, struggling, with their hands and legs cuffed together. Now that the guards were all dealt with Katara continued on her way. As she moved leftward she gave a worried glance to her right and saw a huge wave of fire. Her eyes widened at the sheer size of the wave that was surely bended by Zuko. She has seen him bend fire waves before but this one looked like it came straight out of a stormy night's sea, only the sea was made of lava. After seeing that wave and a few other bending moves Zuko was performing Katara realised that she had nothing to worry about. She quickly averted her gaze forward and noticed two more guards coming towards her. With little effort she disposed of one of them and smugly proceeded to fight the other. But what she had failed to notice was her dwindling water supply. Katara had used most of the water in her pouch to trap the other 7 guards and with her using some of whatever little was left to freeze the eighth one now she was running low. When she called the remaining water out of her pouch next to nothing came out. Her feature started to tense up as she tried summoning the water in the air. But all the firebending had dried up the air so all she got was a few drops. Katara tentatively stared at the guard who was yet to attack her. Her face contracted as a thousand fearful thoughts rushed towards her. They were standing on the palace wall so there was no place to take cover, she clearly didn't have the physical strength to defeat this man and without water her bending was meaningless. 'Was this the end then?' she thought as she watched the guard's expression changing. Till now he had been too afraid to attack her but now that he had figured out what was happening, it was his turn to flash a smug smile. Katara closed her eyes and ducked as a last measure to dodge the fire. She flinched when small flakes of fire touched her the side of her face, accompanied by the whooshing and crackling noises of firebending. She felt small burns in her face and kept her eyelids tightly pinched together, expecting the same feeling on her body. But instead the next thing Katara felt was someone's slightly rough fingers and warm, soft palms grabbing her face. She opened her eyes to see a scrunched up face and a pair of overly concerned golden irises.  
"Are you okay? Did I hurt you?" Zuko's voice was strained and guilt ridden as he closely examined her face. He held a side of her face, her ear and some of her hair in his hand as his eyes scanned over her skin. He was close, too close and Katara had summoned all the self control to not glance at his lips. She, with much difficulty, stared at Zuko's eyes only and realised that he looked so distressed and afraid because he thought HE might have hurt her, not the guard. Then she put two and two together and figured out that Zuko must have come from behind to take down the guard and while he did so a few sparks of fire must have deflected and came towards her.  
"I'm fine." Katara reassured with a small smile.  
"Why are you smiling?" Zuko demanded while his eyes remained fixated on the few burn marks on her face.  
"Because you just SAVED MY LIFE and you're worried about some SMALL BLISTERS!" Katara couldn't help the relieved chuckle that escaped. This was the most Zuko-thing Zuko could do.  
"But it's on your face!!" Zuko still seemed agitated, the last thing he wanted was to leave burn marks on any other person's face and this wasn't just any other person, this was KATARA! And even she knew reassuring him wasn't going to ease his anxiety so instead she conjured up the little bit of water she had left and healed the small burns off her face.  
"See, all good." Katara soothed and Zuko was about to let go of her face but it suddenly contorted.  
"What's wrong?" Zuko asked and as soon as Katara muttered  
"Behind you."  
Zuko spun around, taking a protective stance in front of Katara. She also instinctively took a fighting pose though she didn't know how much use it would be. The one guard who was behind them seemed less than interested in fighting them. He immediately crouched down, begging  
"Plea....please d-don't kill me."  
Katara visibly softened but Zuko didn't. He was buying this and the guard realised that so he tried to convince him.  
"I don't even like working here, really. The minimum wage is too low....and they don't even cover health insurance....and I have a pregnant wife at home and...."  
"Okay, okay...." Katara waved him to stop when she realised that this man was pulling out all the stops. She observed as Zuko eased his stance and they exchanged an incredulous look before he asked  
"Where are the rest of the guards?"  
"You took them all out. I'm the....l-last."  
"That's it?" Katara raised an eyebrow.  
"That's not possible. Exterior security has twice as many guards. You're lying." Zuko got dangerously close to the cowering man. "Tell me where the rest of them are or you won't get to see the face of your child."  
"I swear I'm telling the truth." the man averted his eyes towards Katara to reason with her instead "Please, please I swear on my unborn child."  
Katara wasn't willing to fall for this but she also didn't want to be completely unreasonable. She put a hand on Zuko's shoulder to calm him as she spoke  
"You are telling us that only a few dozen men...were guarding the walls...of the royal palace on the day of the...new firelord's coronation." she paused multiple times to enunciate her point. "I hope you can see why we are having problems believing you."  
"They....they are not here...because....princess Azula banished most of them."  
"What? Why?" Zuko looked beyond confused.  
"No one knows. Everyone has been whispering. Some are saying that the princess has gone mad....that she is talking to herself...." Zuko and Katara exchanged another as the man continued mumbling.  
"What about the Dai Lee? Has she banished them too?" Katara questioned and the guard nodded. She looks at Zuko who was staring towards the palace with concern. He has been anxious since the morning, even vulnerable at some points and now he seemed to be spacing out. Katara had to shake his shoulders to get his attention back.  
"That's good for us, right?" she asked as Zuko turned towards her.  
"Only if he is telling the truth. Otherwise we are walking into a trap."  
"Look at him, Zuko." she gestured towards the man groveling at his feet "He is either telling the truth or he's an award winning theatre actor."  
"Doesn't make sense. Why would Azula banish all of her loyal supporters just before the coronation?"  
"I don't know. Maybe he's right. Maybe your insane sister has finally reached the brink of insanity. Whatever the reason be, this changes our plans, right?"  
"Yes, I mean without the palace security or the Dai Lee there to stop us, we can just...." Zuko clicked his tongue with a certain amount of dissatisfaction before saying "...fly into the royal palace on a giant bison."  
Katara smiled brightly, seeing Zuko being forced to contradict himself gave her a different kind of joy.  
"Okay, I'll call Appa then!"  
Before Zuko could ask how, Katara pulled out a bison whistle and blew all her lung's air into it. Appa appeared in the sky above them in no time. As Zuko and Katara mounted Appa the cowering guard who was no longer cowering asked  
"Will I get to keep the job if you win?"  
"I thought you didn't like this job." Zuko stared back at the man.  
"I don't like unemployment either, plus with the baby coming...."  
"We'll see." Zuko swiftly cut him off before pulling Appa rein. As they flew away they heard the man yelling  
"I'm rooting for you, Prince Zuko!" 

They went past the walls and the outer section of the palace and toward the center. So far no fire was thrown at them and they saw no sign of the Dai Lee yet. But Zuko still seemed more agitated than before, constantly fidgeting with his hands. Katara knew if Azula got a sight of this vulnerable, panicstaken, probably scared Zuko she would have a field day. She needed to do something, somehow calm his nerves.  
"At least you got that guy's support." Katara said, trying to lighten the mood a little but she failed miserably. Zuko completely ignored her efforts and chided  
"Yeah, that should make me feel so much better for what's coming." Before pointing towards 5 small, red figures below them "Over there!"  
Katara didn't know what got into her but she grabbed Zuko's shoulder as Appa descended. Zuko eyes were gleaming with terror as they stared at her. Terror of what Katara was doing, terror of what Azula was going to do to them, terror of....  
"Stop spiraling!" Katara ordered then she tenderly cupped the sacred side of his face and said "I trust you, Zuko, with all my life."  
She wasn't sure how earnest her words were or even if she meant them but she needed Zuko to be on his A game and for that he needed to be confident. Maybe it was a bit manipulative of her to say she trusts him just before they faced Azula. But it worked. When they finally landed in front of Azula and the sages, to crash her coronation, Zuko seemed focused and on top of that his signature scowl was back.  
"Sorry, but you're not gonna because Firelord today....I am."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, I just reached over 10000 hits!!! And though I have no idea what that means since this is my first fic I'm still really excited. 
> 
> A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who has read this fic and a bigger one for everyone who has left a kudos and comments!!


	20. Chapter 20

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aftermath of the Agni Kai. Zuko is unconscious for the entire chapter and Katara doesn't know how to deal with her feelings.

'Please n....no. No! Not Zuko! Tui and La....and Agni don't take him. Please not him.' Katara's thoughts cried as she kneeled down beside Zuko. His chest and most of his stomach was engraved by a red blooming hole. The skin around the hole was tattered with several long, striking burn wounds. His breath was shallow and Katara couldn't tell if his heart was beating. With her own heart rapidly drumming in her ears, her thoughts screaming in her mind and Azula wrenching wails surrounding her, she couldn't tell anything anymore. Her tears streamed down her eyes and into the glowing blue water under her hands. 

'No....not Zuko, please. He is good.' 

He had just saved her life, Katara couldn't let him die. She wouldn't let him die. She concentrated all her chin to further her healing abilities. She followed the same process she did when she healed Aang's lightning injuries, only this time it was supremely difficult to do without the spirit water. Katara called on all the spirits she knew, she prayed to both the dark spirits and the light to spare Zuko. And when he finally moved, he took a long, strangled breath and spoke, Katara felt every muscle in her body relaxing and every emotion in her mind exploding with joy. She pulled him up and hugged him as tightly as she could to convince herself that he was still here, still here in her arms. A cacophony of emotions vibranted through her. It was nothing like anything Katara had ever felt before and it's something she never wants to feel ever again. 

Katara practically carried him away from his hysterically crying sister while the Fire sages reprimanded Azula and revoked her rights for breaking the ancient and sacred laws of an Agni Kai. Katara stumbled, quite a few times, through the halls of the palace as she tried to support Zuko weight. The halls and corridors were eerily quiet, probably because Azula had banished everyone who worked here which meant that there was no one to help Katara navigate. Zuko gave her direction to his room but he was barely conscious and his mumbling was getting hard to understand. After a very long, unpleasant walk they finally reached the room that traditionally belonged to the crowned prince of the Firenation. Katara tumbled onto the bed, gently throwing heavy body mass off her shoulders. As soon as Zuko's body hit the bed he immediately collapsed, all the exhaustion and physical exertion had got to him. After a few minutes of breather Katara got up on her knees on top of the bed and dragged his body from the foot of the bed to the middle. It wasn't an easy feat, not for her at least. Zuko wasn't frail like Aang, she couldn't just carry him. In fact he was quite beefy so it took a lot of her strength to lay him down properly. Once he was in a comfortable position Katara summoned fresh water and started healing him again. The smaller burns on the sides, on his shoulders and his lower stomach healed quite quickly. But the one in the middle was taking a lot of effort and was still nowhere near healed. Fighting the fire princess had taken up most of Katara's energy too and she found it increasingly difficult to keep her eyes open. Nonetheless she spent the next few hours summoning more and more water that covered the entirety of Zuko's chest and drenched his tunic and the bedsheets. She endured as long as she could but eventually her exhaustion got the better of her making her pass out beside him. 

Katara woke up to some shuffling and mumbling noises. Her hands were still on Zuko's chest which meant someone else was making the noises. As soon as she came to the realisation that someone else was in the room with them she sat up straight in breakneck speed. Though her eyes were still only partly opened and she was in no shape to fight anybody.

"Our intention is not to harm the Firelord." the High Sage hurriedly informed her. 

'Firelord?' Katara thought then understood that he was talking about Zuko. 'Zuko was the Firelord now' she reminded herself though it sounded surreal. She rubbed her eyes clean when she noticed that not just one person but a group of people were standing inside the room and she was currently sleeping on the same bed as their leader. 

"Then why are you all here?" Katara questioned, looking up at the High Sage and the ten other people behind him. Five of them were fire sages, two were guards though she didn't recognize the other three people. As if almost reading her mind the High Sage pointed particularly at those three people and said 

"These are the resident healer of the palace. I thought they should take a look, lighting injuries are often very serious. 

"And the guards?" Katara asked suspiciously, she was supremely mistrustful of any and every one here. 

"They are here to protect the Firelord till he is able to stand on his own again."

"I....AM more....than capable of protecting the Firelord....on my own." Katara's voice was deep and authoritative "And as far as healing goes....I have done everything in my power and don't think anything else can be done. If your physicians want they can take a look.... but they will NOT do anything beyond that."

All the sages opened their mouth to protest but Katara loudly cleared her throat, cutting them off. She put a hand back on Zuko's chest and levitated all the water in the room to show them exactly who was in-charge here. She didn't trust a single soul in the whole of Firenation, much less inside the royal palace. These people have been working for Ozai for Tui knows for how long, relying on them to keep Zuko safe was out of the question.

"AND you will not be staying in this room....or anywhere near him for that matter being."

Everyone in the room seemed quite intimidated by Katara's impressive show of waterbending without actually making any physical movement. After a minute or two of silence the High Sage debated

"With all due respect, Master waterbender, he is our Lord. It is OUR duty to protect him." 

"With all due respect, Mr. Fire Sage, after fighting against your nation, generation wise, for nearly a hundred years.....forgive me, if I don't IMMEDIATELY trust you with my friend's life." 

Her nasty tone followed by a snarl and a glare was enough to drive everyone out of the room. She closed the door behind them and proceeded toward a still unconscious Zuko. Katara called on all the levitated water and worked healing him again. But it was all in vain, the injury remained plush and fresh with tints of pink and red coloring the flesh. The burned tissue was still very soft and vulnerable and needed to be covered by bandages. Any hopes she had of preventing a scar was all thrown out of the window. This was going to scar, a big and prominent scar that was going to stay, much like Katara's feelings. But the last thing she wanted to do was think about her feelings for the Firelord in front of his senseless body. That would be so melodramatic not to mention borderline creepy. But in reality she just didn't want to think about it because it all felt so overwhelming. 'I mean, where am I even supposed to start from?' Katara huffed to herself. Should she think about how she felt when she saw Zuko lying motionless on the ground or when he started breathing again or when she saw that lighting coming towards her or when Zuko jumped in front of her or about everything that came before that. She knew that if she opens that box she may not be able to close it again. There was no telling what might jump out of it and she wasn't even sure if she wanted to open it. 'Only Tui and La knows what I might uncover? Was I even ready to uncover it?' Katara at this point was practically talking to herself when the door creaked open. She sat up straight and readied to fight a threat. But instead of a threat a rather pensive looking guy walked in and bowed to her. 

"A letter from general Iroh." he said, handing her the letter and walking out without any further conversation. Katara found the man oddly to the point and somewhat disinterested with his job. As she opened the letter she realised that she had no idea if the White Lotus and Sokka, Suki and Toph had succeeded on their missions or if Aang had actually shown up to fight Ozai. Because, yes, they might have won against Azula but their win wouldn't matter if they had lost the war. Katara hands suddenly started trembling as she read the letter

_To beloved nephew / Master Katara (whoever gets this first),_

_I'm overjoyed to inform you that the members of the White Lotus through a joint effort have successfully freed Ba Sing Se from Firenation hold and will be renaming it as Earth Kingdom territory._

Katara breathed a sigh of relief after reading that. Zuko would be glad to know that his uncle was okay.

_Master Katara's brother has also sent me word that he and your friends were able to stop the Firenation air fleet before they could do any real damage to the Earth Kingdom. In his words they 'Airship sliced the Loser Lord's forces and whooped his ass'._

Katara couldn't help but chuckle, thinking how much that sounded like Sokka but that chuckle soon turned into a gasp when she read the next line.

_They along with the Avatar are now headed to the Firenation capital. And as I had expected Avatar Aang has fulfilled his destiny and defeated my brother, Firelord Ozai, in what many witnesses are calling an impressive display of power. He has ended the hundred year war and brought peace back to the world._

'He came back' Katara thought as a tearful smile spread on her face. Aang had kept his promise. He didn't let them down, he didn't let her down.

_I have also received messages from the Fire Sages who have recently declared Prince Zuko the next Firelord and I'm so very proud of the both of you. I do not know all the details of the Agni Kai but I'm confident that Azula was not an easy opponent to defeat. What you have achieved today is truly exceptional._

_My heart swells up with pride and happiness when I think about how far you have come my dear nephew. Sacrificing your life willing to save another is the ultimate proof of your untainted honor. And Master Katara from what I hear you were the one who defeated Azula and saved his life and for that I will remain eternally grateful to you._

_For a group of younglings to attain so much was unthinkable. But all of you have once again proven that my faith in you was not misplaced. Today as I rejoice our victory and look towards the future I see a very steep peak. Yes, the hundred year war has ended but wounds that it has left on the world are yet to be healed. Peace will not come easily, many more conflicts are yet to be had, many more battles are yet to be fought. But I take comfort in knowing that this future lies in your capable hands. You are the leaders of tomorrow and I could not have hoped for anyone better._

_With love_

_Iroh_

Katara folded the letter properly and kept it on the table for Zuko to read later. Iroh's kind words warmed her heart but it also installed a fear in her that wasn't there before. She should have been happy that the war was over but she wasn't. Because without the war there was no need for them to band together anymore. All of her friends will be soon going their separate ways. Toph will probably head back to the Earth Kingdom and Zuko will be stuck here in the Firenation and there is no telling where Aang will go, he is the Avatar after all. They probably meet once a year if they are lucky but besides that they'll all be strangers, engrossed in their own busy lives. Uptil now the future seemed so hopeful to Katara but today it left her with a chilling stutter. 

Katara was deep down the rabbit hole of dark thoughts when Zuko groaned as he tried to shift, capturing her attention. For a second she thought he might have woken up but when she went to check he was still soundly asleep. Though he was moving in his sleep, trying to remove the hairs which were stuck to his face. Katara chuckled softly, at how grumpy Zuko even in his sleep, before leaning down to help him. She threaded her fingers through his dark black hair, caressing his face and softly scratching his scalp. His hair was soft and long but it wasn't silly like a prince's supposed to be. Zuko's has gotten rough and a little sticky due to the lack of care. She watched as his expression neutralised again and he went back to his undisturbed sleep once all the hair was off his face. Katara could help herself from smiling down at Zuko as he nestled further into her arms. This was probably the first time she has ever seen him so peaceful. Usually he is screaming or restless when he sleeps but not today. His feature all seemed relaxed and smooth, with no signs of tension. 'He was rather pretty' Katara mused. It might not be the adjective of Zuko's liking but he was pretty. Without the scowl or the smirk or the other arrogant expressions his facial features were delicate, soft, tender and somewhat beautiful. His features were the opposite of everything that made Jet roguishly handsome which isn't to say Zuko wasn't good looking, he was but you couldn't call him handsome. He was pretty in a sweet-cute-adorable kinda way, at least without the scowl. With it he was definitely handsome but in a jerk kinda way. The more Katara stared at him the more she felt a wave of affection bubbling up inside her chest, rising and falling in sync with Zuko breaths. She was trying hard, so hard to ignore this overwhelming feeling but the Spirits weren't in a mood to let her succeed. She knew she would eventually have to confront her emotion but 'What good will it do, anyway?' she wondered bitterly. Zuko was the Firelord, he couldn't just leave his naion and Katara wasn't planning on moving here anytime soon. She belonged in the south pole surrounded by ice, she preferred the cold much more than the heat and she wasn't willing to give up every other aspect of her life for a man who explicitly told her that he would not have kissed her back. She knew too well where this was headed (to some unrequited love hell) and yet she couldn't find the strength in her bones to stop cradling Zuko's head. He looked so blissfully comfortable with Katara's arms snaked around him and her fingers stuck inside his hair, massaging his scalp. He kept leaning more and more into her body, to the point where she thought she might topple off the bed. So to accommodate his body weight better Katara scooted towards him, properly filling up the space beside him. And before she knew it she was fast asleep on his bed with her arms and legs tangled around Zuko.


	21. Chapter 21

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aang returns to Firenation palaces and comes to some heartbreaking conclusion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it's been a while since I last updated and that's cause I had to take a vacation from fic writing to write the boring stuff that I actually needed to write. But I'm back now, at least for the next two chapters then we'll see, and this time I tried my hand at writing a Aang pov. And I'm not sure how it turned out but I really wanted to write one cause I didn't want him to become the default villain.

The sky was still mostly orange but the colour had slowly started to fade now. The usual blue peeked out from behind the orange auras as dusk neared. The Avatar along with his friends and the loser lord (as Sokka very eloquently put it) travel back to the Firenation capital on the airship that Suki had commandeer. Aang sat silently on one side, recuperating from all that had happened. Before they left the island they had already received a letter from Master Piandao filling them in about Azula's defeat and Ba Sing Se siege. He couldn't wait to get to the Firenation and see Appa, Katara and Zuko  
"I hope they are okay, Momo" Aang spoke to his pet lemur who was purring on his shoulder. They still had a few hours of travel till they reached the capital city so he thought about following Sokka's lead and taking a small nap. As he went to gather up some blanket or a pillow to sleep on he heard Suki threatening firelord Ozai.  
"Stop making so much noise or I'll lock you in the latrine!"  
"What's going on?" he asked as he entered the back room where Ozai was locked up with his hands and legs bound securely.  
"He keeps whining about something." Toph, who was standing beside Suki, informed. Aang peeped inside and saw a weakened, almost pathetic looking man sitting and groaning. It made him feel bad though he knew Ozai doesn't deserve his sympathy, still he wasn't wired that way.  
"We should give him some water....and food." Aang's suggestion caused both Toph and Suki to stare at him with identical incredulous looks.  
"Yes, and why don't we throw him a party while we are at it?" Toph tone oozed with sarcasm and Suki agreed with her.  
"Yeah, Aang he was about to burn down the entire Earth Kingdom."  
"I know that he is a horrible human being but....he is still a human being. He should treat him with some dignity. Or else what's the difference between us and him?"  
"He is barely a human but fine...." Toph rolled her eyes "If goody two-shoes here insists we can give him one tenth of our supplies."  
Now that Aang was satisfied, he went to grab the supplies. After dealing with Ozai and trying to prevent Suki and Toph from tackling him Aang finally got to take his nap. The nap turned out to be far longer than intended because, yes, he was the Avatar but he was also a 12 year old boy who had spent all afternoon fighting a man 5 times his size. By the time he woke up they had already reached the Firenation capital. He heard Sokka's cheerful voice announcing  
"We're here! Guys, we are here!"  
When Aang opened his eyes and saw sunlight, he felt refreshed and re-energise, ready to face the world again. He got up and instantly felt light on his feet like the weight of the world had been lifted off him. He walked over to Sokka who landed the airship.  
"Ahh....did you get a nice beauty sleep?" Toph greeted with a strong smack on his back.  
"It was great actually. I feel so much better now." Aang nodded, rubbing that spot on his back.  
"Yeah, I can tell your feets feel light. I mean you were always light on your feet but today you toes feel twinklier."  
"Thanks? I guess." Aang shrugged. He had finally achieved everything he had been training so hard for. He had completed his duty as the Avatar and freed the world from Firelord Ozai's hold so of course he felt lighter. In fact not only his toes the entirety of him felt 'twinklier' than usual. Before getting of the ship Sokka reminded everyone  
"Okay, once we are down there you need to get to Katara and Zuko and put that genocidal man into an actual prison." he pointed at Aang "And the rest of us have to find Master Piandao's source."  
"What source?" Aang asked, obliviously.  
"Oh, right, you don't know. You were busy snoring."  
"Hey, I fought the firelord! I have a right to be exhausted." Aang protested and Sokka waved his arm, dismissively  
"Fine, sheesh....Master Piandao gave us the name of a source who can help us find my dad, Haru, Teo and the other who got separated at the Western Air temple. We are going to Piandao's house to find him."  
Before Aang could ask any follow up questions Toph metal-bends the airship open and they all started getting off it. Once Sokka, Suki and Toph were on their way Aang pulled out his glider and headed towards the Firenation palace. 

When Aang finally reached the palace gates he didn't get a grand welcome or even a hug from Katara. In fact the entire place was quite desolated and she and Zuko were nowhere to be seen. But much to Aang's delight he heard the voice of his beloved bison coming from somewhere inside the palace. He glided over the gate and following the sound, landed on what looked like an unkept private garden with a pond. He didn't have to look hard to find Appa who seemed elated to see him. He immediately knocked Aang down with a giant hug and licked him vigorously. After everything he has been through in the last 24 hours it was nice to be embraced by a loved one even if it meant getting fur inside his mouth.  
"Hey, buddy Did you miss me?" Aang patted his head and hugged him back "I defeated the firelord....without taking his life." he triumphantly informed and Appa seemed overjoyed. But before they could rejoice together Aang heard someone yelling  
"Guards, surround the trespasser!"  
Then about five men in red armour came running towards them. Appa groaned in annoyance and Aang tried to reason with them.  
"Guys, calm down! We are not trespassing, I swear."  
One of the men, who looked like the one in-charge, rolled his eyes and ordered his men "What are you waiting for? Eliminate the threat!"  
"No, no! We are not a threat to anyone! Zuko's my friend."  
All the guards seemed to be hesitant to attack once they heard Zuko's name  
"Who are you? State your name and business." the guy in-charge asked and Aang sighed in relief. He really wasn't in the mood for fighting again today. He gave a customary Fire Nation bow before introducing himself  
"I'm the Avatar Aang and this is my sky bison, Appa."  
"Yeah, we know the bison. We are the ones feeding him." A guard said. Another added  
"You are the Avatar?" he clearly looked unimpressed. But Aang didn't let that pull him down  
"Yes!" he cheerfully responded "And I am here to request the imprisonment of Firelord Ozai for his war crimes."  
"Firelord Ozai is alive?" one guard seemed hopeful, another seemed astonished  
"You defeated him? But you look so frail and weak."  
"Where is the Firelord?" a guard asked to which the guy in-charge loudly cleared his throat and that guard immediately corrected himself "I-I….mean t-the previous Firelord. The bad….very bad Firelord….w-who no one likes." he stuttered, saying whatever he needed to to keep his job. Aang stared at him in confusion till their leader raised his hand to put a stop to all the questions. He instead turned towards Aang and took a deep breath filled with exasperation before asking  
"You wish to imprison Firelord Ozai, is that correct?"  
Aang enthusiastically nodded in response  
"And did you happen to bring him with you?"  
"Flying hog monkeys!" Aang slapped his forehead "I forgot him in the airship."  
"How marvelous…." the guy in-charge rolled his eyes again "How far the Fire Nation must have fallen for you to defeat us." he muttered, his tone dripped with sarcasm. Aang was starting to understand where Zuko got his attitude from.  
"I'm sure Zuko and Katara can help me bring him back." he proposed then looked around once before asking "Where are they, anyways?"  
"Firelord Zuko has sustained major injuries and is yet to wake up….and waterbender, as far as I have heard, has not left his side since the Agni Kai."  
Aang's month fell open a little as a grim expression appeared over his face. Zuko in a very short time had become one of his best friends and to know that he had suffered major injuries made Aang extremely anxious. Although he took comfort in knowing that Katara was with him which meant he must be okay. The leader of the guards noticed Aang's convoluted face and pointed to what's the hall behind him  
"Go straight down the hall. You'll see a cluster of fire sages standing outside his room."  
The guards all relaxed and walked away while Aang hurried to see Zuko and Katara.

Worried, he fiddled with his hands as he strided through the hall and soon saw the group of fire sages at the end of the hall. They seemed quite annoyed as they whispered amongst themselves. They were engrossed in their discussion so Aang sneaked past them, mostly avoiding them to get to his friends. He headed for the only room that had the lanterns lit and slowly creaked the door open. The sight he saw made his eyes widened in shock and he felt his heart fall down to the pit of his stomach. Aang spirits that were till now flying as high as a kite were being plungered out of the sky and plummeted to the ground as he beheld the sight in front of him. Katara, his Katara, his forever girl had her limbs coiled around Zuko. She held him close to her chest with her hands and legs almost protectively engulfing him to safeguard him from all dangers. Even in her sleep Katara wore an intimidating look to scare off anyone who even thought about hurting Zuko. Aang stared at them for a long while, trying to convince himself that they are just friends, this is what friends do. But even he could make his own mind and heart belief that what he was looking at right now was anywhere near the realm of platonic. He thought back to all the times he had seen Zuko and Katara together, cooking, washing, arguing, sparing, training him....and he felt like an idiot for not noticing something that was so obviously in front of him. Aang wondered if this was the reason Katara told him she was confused during the play. He tried his hardest to hold back the tears that started welling up and flooding his vision. 'So this is what heartbreak feels like' he thought as he closed the door and started walking away. He was so angry, he felt so betrayed that he couldn't trust himself. He needed to get away but he also didn't want to be alone. 'Why didn't Katara just tell me?' Aang mulled as he rushed through the hallway. The sages all noticed him this time and acknowledged him with a bow but he didn't return the greeting. He didn't have the mood for pleasantry right now. The dream of the perfect life, the perfect future with Katara that Aang had woven so precisely has just been torn and shredded into pieces in front of his eyes. He blindly walked till he reached Appa and when he did he couldn't stop himself from sobbing a little. And Appa like a loyal friend licked his face to wipe the tears off.


	22. Chapter 22

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zuko wakes up and is confused by Katara's behaviour. He needs time and is not sure if he wants to jump into something with his eyes closed. Meanwhile Katara tries desperately to control feelings by denying their existence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if you guys remember but I uploaded this chapter back in November. But it wasn't really flowing with the whole thing so I made some substantial changes.
> 
> Sorry if I'm making you read this again and hopefully you'll like this version.

Zuko just knew he was in a world of trouble when he woke up in the arms of a certain tantalising waterbender. His head was buried somewhere between two very soft, somewhat fluffy pillows and his eyes were still groggy. Her soft brown arms and rather muscular legs clutched onto his body and her head full of wavy hair covered his face. Zuko couldn't help but revelled in the closeness and tenderness he felt right now, especially since he knew it was fleeting. He couldn't remember the last time he was touched or held like this. Or more appropriately he couldn't remember the last time he had let his guard down enough to allow someone to hold him like this. However as soon as Zuko's cloudy eyes cleared he realised the awkward position they were in, with his head almost buried in Katara's bosom and her chin uncomfortably resting on top of his head and drool dripping out of her mouth. He chuckled a bit looking at her sleeping face, then attempted to move not because he was physically uncomfortable but because it felt wrong to have his face on Katara's, well....breasts. But the moment he moved even an inch he felt the buzzing of an excruciating pain on his chest. All of a sudden the events from yesterday that Zuko had been, till now, blissfully blanking on came back. He groaned, all too loudly, as he remembered everything that had happened before he passed out. The harsh memories along with the pain forced him to plop back down onto Katara’s chest.

A loud groan accompanied by a thump on her chest disrupted Katara's otherwise comatose sleep. Her still half asleep mind took a minute or two to realize who was making those noises. But as soon as she saw the familiar figure lying beside or rather on her, Katara stirred awake. Chills of concern flooded her as she saw Zuko in distress. 

"Zuko, what's wrong?" a hurried, panic filled voice, that didn't sound like her own, asked. 

"Nothing….I was just trying to…." Zuko half mumbled before giving up and gesturing at his current position.

Katara saw her limbs rather ungracefully wrapped around the firebender's body and felt the drool dripping out of her mouth and sticking on her cheeks. Then a wave of embarrassment and uneasiness filled her when she saw Zuko face buried in her cleavage. She flushed furiously before almost slapping his face away in a hurry. Zuko seemed awfully offended by this action and stared at her as if she had committed a heinous crime. 

"I'm sorry….I just….g-got….startled." Katara stuttered.

She was still trying to collect herself though she felt compelled to apologize for slapping the man, who recently saved her life, for something that wasn't entirely his fault. After all she was the one who consciously decided to sleep besides him. She then moved carefully to untwine herself from Zuko's body without hurting him. Once free, Katara tried to reposition Zuko in a more comfortable spot. She was mindful to stray away from his wounds as she cradled his head and she gently placed him in the middle of the bed. She even pushed two pillows on either side of his shoulders to keep him upright and comfortable. Zuko gives Katara a look of surprise as he watched her treat him like a porcelain doll that could break any minute now. Though she had good reasons to be delicate with him, one of the major ones being that large, red mark on his chest that glared at her for she was the reason for its existence. Guilt bubbled inside her as she leaned forward and examined Zuko's chest. Her fingers traced the multiple small burn marks still remained very evident even after two sessions of healing. Suddenly Katara felt Zuko grabbing her hand and she looked down and saw him staring at her as if he knew exactly what she was thinking. 

"It's not your fault." his raspy voice assured her. And as heartwarming as it was to see Zuko trying to comfort her even in his dwindling state Katara wasn't going to fall for his genuineness this time. 

"You warned me! Multiple times! And I still was dumb enough to just stand there and let myself be targeted." she shook her head, disappointed at herself.

"You couldn't have guessed....I, even after knowing Azula all my life, didn't even think....that she'd aim at you. If I had had the slightest clue....I wouldn't have asked you to come with me."

Katara gave Zuko a look of disbelief before gesturing towards his chest 

"Really? You really think this is your fault?"

"I don't think it's anyone's fault." Zuko offered "As I said Azula has a better understanding of people's emotions than they themselves do."

Zuko's words gave rise to another series of uncomfortable, unconfronted feelings that had been shimmering inside of Katara. The ugly thoughts of a grim future she imagined earlier came racing back to her. Her anxious rose as her brain tried to decipher exactly what Zuko meant. 'Why does he say stuff like that when he has no interest in me?' she wondered but again didn't try too hard to uncover. Instead in an attempt to move away, literally and figuratively, she announced 

"I think you need another healing session." Then she went to get some clean water. 

Zuko felt kind of stranded, as if kept on hold when Katara walked away from him. He could tell something about her was different. She was usually the hopeful one but right now she seemed almost morose. There was a storm of dark clouds behind her normally shining blue eyes which made him worried. 'Did Ozai win?' was his first thought and 'Is Aang okay?' was his second. 

"Did something happen?" he asked as soon as Katara came back with her pouch full of water. She took a minute to think before saying very unenthusiastically. 

"Oh, yeah, we won." 

Her tone and her words were so different that it took Zuko several minutes to comprehend what she had just said. 'What did we win?' he wanted to ask because he was sure she wasn't talking about the Hundred Year War. After seeing the confusion and disbelief on Zuko's face Katara hand him a letter from the table and instructed 

"Here, just read this letter." 

She seemed so very nonchalant about it all that Zuko thought she was making a cruel joke or something. He watched closely as cool water pooled around his torso moved with her swaying hands and the blue light danced on her frowning face and he knew for sure that something was wrong with Katara. This wasn't the girl he had spent all summer getting to know, no, this was some other woman pretending to be her. Or maybe this was her, trying to be someone she is not. He wanted to ask but something about her expression made him dread the answer. So instead he opted to open the letter he had been handed. When he noticed that the letter was from his uncle his eyes lit up with slight optimism. Zuko had to will his eyes into not tearing up as he read his uncle's words. He has had to follow a long, hard, entangled path littered with mistakes and bad decisions to get to where he was now and to know that his uncle was proud of the man he had become meant everything to him. Once he finished reading he averted his attention to Katara again and had to look away quickly, cause she was currently straddling him whilst hovering over his chest. The determination and concentration on her face as she treated his injuries combined with her evocative position was just too much for Zuko to handle, especially in his weakened state. Even with the weariness and sleep deprivation and exhaustion she looked so, so.....beautiful, engrossed in her work and so full of purpose. Zuko had to focus his eyes on something, anything else to keep a hold on his self control. 

Katara tried for a while but there wasn't much she could improve about his condition. She let out an annoyed, dissatisfied sigh before climbing off him without a word. She noticed Zuko glancing at her over and over again, hoping she would break the silence but Katara didn't utter a word. The air filled up with this uncomfortable and uncalled-for tension which was much different than the one that usually existed between them. Zuko looked like he was having a harder time tolerating this atmosphere than she was. 

"So the hundred year war is over, huh?" Zuko awkwardly asked as he let out something between a huff of relief and a laugh of disbelief. Katara knew it was a rather miserable attempt to cut through the silence and the tension but she wasn't in a mood for small talk. 

"Yeah." was her one word reply.

She realised she sounded somewhat unhappy as if she wanted the war to go on forever but she made no efforts to hide her discontentment. Katara had already woken up in a bad mood and thinking about her murky future and her conflicting feelings for Zuko wasn't helping. In fact the more she looked at his face the worse her mood got. Katara knew all the pros and cons of this relationship, she knew where she belonged and it wasn't in a sea of red flags, and she knew very well what she was doing when she said she regretted kissing him, she made a conscious decision to not continue to fall for the Fire prince. Then why did she still feel this way!? Katara was overthinking everything right now, to the point where she teetered on the verge of an existential crisis when a distant, worried voice asked

"Katara, are you....angry with me, for some reason?"

"Not everything is about you!" Katara snapped. But immediately afterwards her brain said 'but this is about him' even if she didn't like to admit it. 

Zuko visibly flinched at Katara's sudden and rather unpredictable outburst. He watched as she insistently chewed on her lips, almost determined to make them bleed. She looked deeply torn, her arms folded and her face distorted as she ventured into the depth of darkness. Zuko has seen that look before, he has seen that on his own face. He looked exactly like that every time he battled with himself though he wondered why Katara was up in arms with herself. But again he refrained from asking because it wasn't like asking a straight question was going to get him a straight answer. 'When have things ever been straight with Katara?'. After sitting in uncomfortable silence for a few more minutes Zuko heard a small and hesitant voice asking 

"Why....why did you do it? You could have died you know?" 

He knew Katara was asking about his rather suicidal move of jumping directly in front of lightning and honestly, the answer to that was a no-brainer for Zuko. It was his life versus Katara's so of course he chose the latter. 

"Hmm, I could have but if I didn't jump you definitely would have died....I couldn't just let Azula kill one of my handful of friends."

"That's it? That's the only reason? You were willing to die because we're friends?"

"I think it's reason enough." 

Katara seemed dissatisfied with the answers and Zuko could tell she wanted more. But he couldn't give her more, not right now at least. He consoled himself by telling himself 'I'm not lying. I'd have done the same thing for Toph or Sokka'. But deep down he knew it wasn't completely true. There were more factors contributing to his willingness to die for her though Zuko wasn't ready to acknowledge them yet. He needed more time to understand exactly what he felt for her, cause even though he realised he felt something deeper than friendship when he saw that lightning bolt headed towards her he still wasn't sure what or how permanent that feeling was. Zuko couldn't help but wonder if he just felt this way because he had to spend all these months locked up with her, basically raising children together. He didn't want to jump into a relationship then realise that his so called feelings were just an infatuation with a strong, mesmerising waterbender. Especially since he was still stuck in a relationship that he felt pretty committed to. 

"Listen, Katara...." Zuko started in an attempt to clear the air "I know things....between us have been...weird"

“That’s an understatement.”

“Well, I don’t want things to be weird.”

“It doesn’t work like that, Zuko.”

“Well, how DOES IT work then?” Zuko gritted his teeth in an effort to keep himself calm though it didn’t help too much. He was tired of doing this dance with Katara over and over again. The everlasting tension, the lingering too-long looks, the confusing feeling, the unsaid words….it was all too complicated, too uncharted and too challenging. Zuko wanted out from it all.

“And why are things weird between us?” Zuko’s question made Katara scoffed.

Katara only offered a rueful smile in response. ‘Because I kissed you and then said I regretted it and now I regret saying I regretted it’ she summed the entire situation up in her head but stopped herself saying anything out loud.

“You do know that I meant it….when I said that I’ll do my best to forget.” Zuko said, harshly reminding Katara of the instance that started it all. ‘Maybe that’s the problem. You can forget and I can’t.’ yet another thing she said to herself and not to Zuko. Katara thought long and hard before her next words. She wanted to tell Zuko how hypocritical it was of him to say that they didn’t have the luxury to be reckless and then do something as reckless as jumping in front of lighting. But she thought better of it and decided to be less direct.

“You say things and then you…..do things and say other things that don’t match with what you said earlier. You just keep….confusing me. Where does that leave me?”

“Wow….” Zuko chuckled drily, which Katara wasn’t expecting “Confusing, huh? That’s rich coming from you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Katara got up from her place, ready to fight the impending argument when a loud, prominent knock cut them both off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know it has been solid 5 months since I updated this fic but unfortunately life caught up to me and it's been hell. I don't know when I'll update again but I definitely plan on continuing this fic.
> 
> Hopefully by the end of 2050 I'll be done 😂😭. That is if climate change doesn't kill me by then.


End file.
